Indian Ocean islands on high alert for plane wreckage
Islands in the Indian Ocean are on high alert as the aircraft part washed up on the island of Reunion was identified as the flaperon of a Boeing 777.
French authorities are expected to announce on Wednesday whether the wing piece belonged to MH370, the flight which disappeared on March 8, 2014, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.
But MH370 is the only Boeing 777 to have crashed in the southern hemisphere.
Yesterday it was reported that an aircraft door had also been found but Malaysia’s ministry of transport as well as Reunion Police identified that part as a domestic ladder and said, other debris also found so far have nothing to do with an aircraft.
Malaysia has asked the authorities in the islands surrounding Reunion to be vigilant for possible plane wreckage.
Mauritius has already ordered its coastguard plane to fly surveillance flights over the area, and for boats to be on the lookout.
Other islands in the region – Madagascar, Comoros, Seychelles and Maldives – are expected to do the same.
The location at Reunion would not be unexpected for a part of the missing MH-370 to be washed up, according to drift models over the last 16 months
"We know the flaperon has been officially identified as being part of a Boeing 777 aircraft," said Malaysian transport minister, Liow Tiong Lai.
"This has been verified by French authorities together with aircraft manufacturer Boeing, US National Transportation Safety Board and the Malaysian team."
Diane
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