Mysterious plane wreckage washes ashore in Indian Ocean

World Today

Police stand next to what appears to be part of a plane wing. Photograph: Yannick Piton/AFP/Getty Images

A mysterious piece of plane debris washed up on the French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion Wednesday, prompting some speculation it could be part of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

The two-meter-long piece of wreckage, which seemed to be part of a wing, was found by people cleaning up a beach.

“It was covered in shells, so one would say it had been in the water a long time,” said one witness.

French air transport officials have already opened a probe to investigate where the wreckage could have come from.

Xavier Tytelman, an expert in aviation security, said it could not be ruled out that the wreckage belonged to MH370, which vanished without trace in March last year.

No part of the wreckage has ever been found in one of aviation’s great mysteries and Malaysian authorities in January declared that all on board were presumed dead.

The plane disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.

For more about the MH370 disappearance

Tytelman noted that local media photos showed “incredible similarities between a #B777 flaperon and the debris found,” referring to a Boeing 777 – the type of plane that disappeared.

He also noted a reference on the wreckage: BB670.

“This code is not a plane’s registration number, nor serial number. However… it’s clear that this reference would allow a quick identification. In a few days, we will have a definitive answer,” Tytelman said.

Boeing said in a statement it remained “committed to supporting the MH370 investigation and the search for the airplane”.

“We continue to share our technical expertise and analysis. Our goal, along with the entire global aviation industry, continues to be not only to find the airplane, but also to determine what happened – and why,” said the U.S. aviation giant.

Story by AFP.


Ouissem Gombra on the debris found on Reunion Island
Unidentified pieces of a plane washed ashore on Reunion Island. There has been speculation that it could be part of the wreckage from MH-370, which disappeared in March of 2014.CCTV-America’s Mike Walter spoke to journalist Ouissem Gombra, who is on the Reunion island where the plane debris has washed up, to find out what they’ve uncovered so far.