Aircraft Debris Discovered on Indian Ocean Island Prompting MH370 Speculation
REUNION, France, July 29 (UPI) — A piece of an aircraft washed ashore on an island near Madagascar on Wednesday, prompting some officials to speculate whether it came from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which disappeared more than a year ago.
The debris, which appears to be a wing flap from a large aircraft, appeared off the coast of the community of St. Andrew on the island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean. The island is located about 380 nautical miles from Madagascar.
“It is way too soon to say whether or not it is MH370. We just found the debris this morning,” said French air force Adjutant Christian Retournat.
A reference number on the part should help investigators quickly determine if the piece came from MH370.
The Boeing 777 disappeared March 8, 2014, after leaving Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, en route to Beijing. There were 239 people on board. During the flight, the plane turned off course over the Indian Ocean between Malaysia and Vietnam. Investigators are unsure why the plane went off route.
An international search effort turned up no evidence of a possible plane crash, and all passengers and crew on the plane were presumed dead.
