Debris Found in Indian Ocean Match Part Number of Missing MH370 Flight
The plane debris that washed up on an island shore this week match the part number of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, authorities announced Friday, rather loudly, one imagines, so as to be heard over the joyful sobbing of CNN producers.
The roughly six-foot piece of debris found on a French island in the western Indian Ocean Wednesday is believed to be part of a Boeing 777 flaperon. While the part number doesn’t definitively prove it came from the Flight MH370 wing, process of elimination suggests it did: investigators say that’s the only missing 777 on record.
“From the part number, it is confirmed that it is from a Boeing 777 aircraft. This information is from MAS (Malaysia Airlines). They have informed me,” Deputy Transport Minister Abdul Aziz Kaprawi told AFP.
The wing component found on the French island of La Reunion bears the part number “657 BB”, according to photos of the debris.
The discovery doesn’t do much to indicate what actually happened to the plane (other than to prove it’s not parked in say, Kazakhstan) but authorities say they’re now “highly confident” it’s somewhere at the bottom of the Indian Ocean. CNN reports additional debris, apparently resembling a suitcase, were found in the same area Thursday.
The pieces are being shipped to the French city of Toulouse, where aviation investigators are expected to begin an analysis Saturday morning.
