Possible MH370 debris found in Maldives as Reunion search continues

Want China Times, Xinhua and Staff Reporter 2015-08-09

A beach on Reunion, where more debris that could come from flight
MH370 has been found, Aug. 7. (Photo/Xinhua)

French authorities announced on Friday that the hunt for more Malaysia Airlines MH370 debris will continue for at least a week off the island of Reunion after a wing section was spotted near the island.

Meanwhile, an official from the Maldives Police Service (MPS) told Xinhua that a police team along with aviation experts has started probing a piece of suspected plane debris found on the beach of a private resort in Maldives. According to local media reports, the piece, probably a plane part five to seven inches long, was discovered in May.

Dominique Sorain, administrator of Reunion, a French overseas department, told reporters Friday that a military transport plane was patrolling the seas off the coast and a ship had departed to search. He said there will also be forces combing the eastern part of the island where a flaperon confirmed by Malaysia as part of the missing plane was discovered last week.

"The plan will be developed in the coming days, but we will require a minimum of a week to conclude the search," Sorain said. He said the scrutinized area will span from the island up to a search zone under the control of Mauritius authorities. "We have urged all ships, both fishing and commercial, to immediately contact Reunion's Regional Operation Center for Surveillance and Rescue," he added.

The administrator said that new possible parts of a plane, some of them the size of a finger, have been submitted to authorities by local residents.

With regards to the families of passengers who wish to come to Reunion, Sorain said if necessary he will contact the consular authorities of the countries conmcerned. "We have not received any official request," he said.

Graham Braithwaite, aviation security expert at Britain's Cranfield University, told Xinhua that the search for the plane's black box is still the core objective as the data within it is key to solving the mystery of what happened. As such a long time has passed, precisely locating the black box is already too hard but the discovery of the debris at least indicates that the search is moving in the correct direction, Braithwaite said.

Prior to the Reunion discoveries, a massive surface and underwater hunt had failed to locate the plane, which went missing on March 8, 2014 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. A total of 239 people were on board, most of them Chinese nationals.

Australia, the country that is now leading the international search efforts, vowed it would continue the search efforts and maintain "a crucial role," according to Deputy Prime Minister Warrent Truss.

Braithwaite suggested that Australia expand its current search area and called for a concerted effort that involves assistance from Malaysia, Britain, China and the International Maritime Satellite Organization.

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