Plane wreckage discovered off the coast of the Africa is consistent with missing flight MH370, according to reports.
The debris, discovered near to the island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean, is that of a Boeing 777, investigators confirmed.
The Malaysia Airlines jet – also a Boeing 777 – is thought to have come down in the same ocean on March 8 last year.
Officials at Boeing have assessed photographs of the wreckage and agreed it is consistent with a 777 flaperon, part of the plane’s wing, CNN reported citing sources close the investigation.
CNN added that there is a “unique element’ to the Boeing 777 flaperon which is apparent in the photographs, although they did not elaborate on what the detail is.
The plane was flying from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia to Beijing, China, when it is thought to have come down in the Indian Ocean on March 8 last year.
There were 239 passengers and crew – most of whom were from China – on board when it disappeared.
MH370 vanished from radar screens shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur.
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Getty)
Malaysia has officially declared the disappearance of the flight an accident and has said all 239 passengers and crew on board are presumed dead.
An international search operation in the Indian Ocean has yet to find any trace of the missing plane.
There have been several theories as to what might have happened to the aircraft after it disappeared from radar.
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Getty)
These include:
- It went north heading towards Kazakhstan. Thai military radar seems to confirm the plane turned west, then north.
- It went west and was flown to Diego Garcia, the British-owned island in the Indian Ocean that is let as a military base to America. Surrounding islanders claim they saw a plane low in the sky the morning Flight MH370 went missing.
- It went south over the ocean off Australia, where the search has been concentrated.
Stock picture of a Boeing 777-200ER Malaysia Airlines aircraft (
Dimitris Legakis/Athena Picture Agency Ltd)
