Malaysian team off check aircraft wreckage
Gerd RothPublished: Jul 29, 2015 11:59 PM | Updated: Jul 30, 2015 12:10 AM
A Malaysian government team has been dispatched to the French island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean, where newly found aircraft wreckage awakened speculation over flight MH370, which went missing last year with 239 people aboard.
"I hope that we can identify it as soon as possible," Malaysian Transportation Minister Liow Tiong Lai said in New York late last night, where he had attended a UN Security Council meeting.
A two-metre-long piece of debris covered in small shells was found Wednesday on the coast near Saint-Andre on the eastern side of the island, local media reports said.
Reunion is located to the east of Madagascar.
Beijing-bound Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappeared one hour after take-off from Kuala Lumpur on March 8, 2014. The Boeing 777 has never been found and is presumed to have crashed into the sea.
Citing a source close to the investigation, US-based broadcaster CNN reported that officials from manufacturer Boeing made an initial assessment that the part found on Reunion appeared to be part of a wing from the company's 777s.
Chicago-based Boeing declined direct comment except to say the company remains committed to helping the ongoing investigation.
"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," Boeing told dpa in an emailed statement.
At the White House in Washington, the National Security Council deferred comment to Australian authorities leading the search for the missing plane. US government aviation experts and the US Navy participated in the investigation and search last year.
'Wreckage similar to rudder of Boeing 777'
French aviation expert Xavier Tytelman said the piece of wreckage discovered on Reunion is similar to part of a rudder of a Boeing 777.
He posted sketches and photographs on his Twitter account and blog, writing, "The similarity is amazing."
A reference number was found on the wreckage, which could lead quickly to the identification of the plane, he said. "In a few days, we will have a definitive answer," Tytelman wrote.
Gendarmes, responsible for aviation on Reunion, opened an investigation, media reports said.
Links are to be sought to MH370, as well as two plane crashes in 2006 and 2009.
- dpa
"I hope that we can identify it as soon as possible," Malaysian Transportation Minister Liow Tiong Lai said in New York late last night, where he had attended a UN Security Council meeting.
A two-metre-long piece of debris covered in small shells was found Wednesday on the coast near Saint-Andre on the eastern side of the island, local media reports said.
Reunion is located to the east of Madagascar.
Beijing-bound Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappeared one hour after take-off from Kuala Lumpur on March 8, 2014. The Boeing 777 has never been found and is presumed to have crashed into the sea.
Citing a source close to the investigation, US-based broadcaster CNN reported that officials from manufacturer Boeing made an initial assessment that the part found on Reunion appeared to be part of a wing from the company's 777s.
Chicago-based Boeing declined direct comment except to say the company remains committed to helping the ongoing investigation.
"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," Boeing told dpa in an emailed statement.
At the White House in Washington, the National Security Council deferred comment to Australian authorities leading the search for the missing plane. US government aviation experts and the US Navy participated in the investigation and search last year.
'Wreckage similar to rudder of Boeing 777'
French aviation expert Xavier Tytelman said the piece of wreckage discovered on Reunion is similar to part of a rudder of a Boeing 777.
He posted sketches and photographs on his Twitter account and blog, writing, "The similarity is amazing."
A reference number was found on the wreckage, which could lead quickly to the identification of the plane, he said. "In a few days, we will have a definitive answer," Tytelman wrote.
Gendarmes, responsible for aviation on Reunion, opened an investigation, media reports said.
Links are to be sought to MH370, as well as two plane crashes in 2006 and 2009.
- dpa
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