Plane debris ‘almost certainly’ from MH370

The curved piece of debris which may be part of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, in Wartburg, 37km (22 miles) out of Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, Monday, March 7, 2016. South African teenager Liam Lotter vacationing with his family in Mozambique on Dec. 30, may have found part of a wing from the missing plane, while he was strolling on the beach. Liam struggled to lift the debris from the beach and carried it back home to South Africa before discovering it might be from the lost plane, but now aviation experts plan to examine the plane fragment. The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 jet vanished with 239 people on board while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014. (Candace Lotter via AP)
By Kate Webster


Two aircraft fragments found on the beaches of South Africa and Rodrigues Island off Mauritius are all but confirmed to be from missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

Five pieces of debris have now been recovered, with two from Mozambique and another from Reunion Island.

Authorities say a piece of engine cowling featuring a partial Rolls-Royce stencil, which was found in South Africa in March, is “almost certainly” from the Boeing 777 that went missing more than two years ago with 239 people on board.

The second piece found eight days later in Mauritius is “almost certainly” a panel segment from MH370’s cabin – the first internal piece of the plane that has been found.

The pattern, colour and texture of the panel laminate was only used by Malaysia Airlines on Boeing 777s and 747s, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau said on Thursday.

“There is no record of the laminate being used by any other Boeing 777 customer,” the ATSB said.

Both pieces were found to have marine ecology attached to them, which the ATSB has preserved.

Malaysia’s transport minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai wants searches along African coastlines to be increased, considering several pieces have been found there.

Authorities had predicted that any debris that isn’t on the ocean floor would eventually be carried by currents to the east coast of Africa.

More than 105,000 sq km of the southern Indian Ocean sea floor has been scoured for the missing jetliner, which had six Australians on board when it went missing on March 8, 2014 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

It is believed to have crashed somewhere about 1800km off the West Australian coast.

The governments of Malaysia, Australia and China maintain the search area will not be expanded beyond the current 120,000 sq km zone in the absence of credible new information.

The underwater search is expected to be completed mid-year.

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