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'More plane debris on Reunion'

August 2, 2015

More debris thought to be from a plane has been found on Reunion island, media reports say. A flaperon from a Boeing 777 also recently found on the island is suspected to be from missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

https://p.dw.com/p/1G8ZS
Saint-Denis ©BELPRESS/MAXPPP/LAURENT CARO ;
Image: picture-alliance/maxppp

The metal object, which has not been identified, was found near Reunion's main city of Saint-Denis, the newspaper "Journal de l'Ile de La Reunion" said on Sunday.

British broadcaster BBC said the piece of wreckage was believed to be from a plane.

The news comes on the heels of Wednesday's find on the French Indian Ocean island of debris that officials say has been identified as part of a wing from a Boeing 777, the aircraft used for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

The plane, which disappeared on March 8, 2014 while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, is thought to have come down in the Indian Ocean.

Search for clues

The wing component, called a flaperon, is currently at an aeronautical testing site near Toulouse, France, where experts are to begin on Wednesday to probe whether it does indeed come from MH370, which is the only missing 777.

Piece of plane wing found on Reunion EPA/ZINFOS974
Investigators are hoping the flaperon will yield vital cluesImage: picture-alliance/dpa/Zinfos974

Investigators will be hoping to find clues as to what caused the wing part to come off, and possibly use information gleaned from the sea life clinging to the metal to try and pinpoint where it came from.

The disappearance of MH370, which was carrying 239 people, most of them Chinese, is one of the greatest aviation mysteries of all time.

Malaysia requests help

Malaysia said on Sunday it was seeking assistance from other territories in the Indian Ocean in investigating any further plane debris that might wash up.

Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said in a statement that the Department of Civil Aviation was asking for authorities near Reunion to help "experts conduct more substantive analysis should there be more debris coming on to land, providing us more clues to the missing aircraft."

tj/ng (AP, dpa, AFP)