Missing MH370 debris found in Mauritius, Malaysia confirms

Debris from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, that went missing in March 2014, was recovered in the Indian Ocean island-country of Mauritius, an official said on Friday.

After examining the composite debris, experts from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) concluded that the debris originated from the missing Boeing 777 aircraft, Xinhua news agency quoted Malaysia's Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai as saying.

It was another debris confirmed to be from the MH370 flight after some debris was earlier found in La Reunion island, close to Mauritius, last year and some aircraft pieces found in Tanzania in September.

According to a part number found on a section of the debris, the piece has been identified as a trailing edge splice strap, incorporated into the rear spar assembly of a Boeing 777's left outboard flap, Liow said in a statement.

 

It was also consistent with the appearance and construction of the debris, he added.

Meanwhile, the flap manufacturer supplied records indicating that this work order number was incorporated into the outboard flap shipset of Boeing 777 aircraft line number 404, registered as 9M-MRO.

"As such, the experts have concluded that the debris piece originated from the aircraft 9M-MRO, also known as MH370," Liow said.

He said that in September at least 22 pieces of debris were found along coasts off South Africa, Mozambique, Mauritius and Tanzania. Among them, several were identified as parts from the missing plane.

Flight MH370 with 239 persons on board went missing on March 8, 2014, soon after taking off from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing. Available data indicated that the plane flew into the waters of the southern Indian Ocean.

More than 1,10,000 sq km of the seafloor have been searched so far for clues to or debris of the missing jetliner.

The governments of Malaysia, Australia and China announced in July that search for flight MH370 would be suspended if no new evidences emerge upon completion of the 1,20,000 sq km search area in the southern Indian Ocean, where the flight has presumably ended its journey.

--IANS

ask/vt