Remember the cabin fragments of a plane found in South Africa and Mauritius? Many were skeptical, but experts have concluded that the plane debris “almost certainly” came from flight MH370.
The Malaysian ICAO Annex 13 Safety Investigation Team deduced that both pieces “are consistent with panels found on a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 aircraft”, said Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai. The results came after the debris were examined by international experts.
In a statement released today (Thursday, 12th May 2016), Liow stated:
As such, the team has confirmed that both pieces of debris from South Africa and Rodrigues Island are almost certainly from MH370. This complements the results from the previous examination in March during which the team confirmed that the Mozambique debris were almost certainly from MH370.
In the same statement, the Transport Minister also thanked a few parties for their efforts in identifying the debris:
We wish to express our sincere gratitude to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), Geoscience Australia and Boeing for their undivided commitment and assistance in this examination process. We also thank the Governments of Mozambique, Mauritius and South Africa for the efforts and cooperation extended to Malaysia in this matter.
More than 105,000 sq km of the seafloor out of the promised 120,000 sq km have been searched so far. With the search area nearing an end, the Governments of Malaysia, Australia, and the People’s Republic of China have agreed that efforts to search for the aircraft will be halted if no further leads are acquired.
South African archaeologist Neels Kruger stumbled upon the engine cowling piece while walking along a lagoon near the town of Mosselbay. Meanwhile, the piece in Mauritius, a bulkhead, was found on Rodriguez Island, a small volcanic island in the Indian Ocean, east of Mauritius, on 31st March by a couple who were on holiday.
Malaysia Airlines’ Flight MH370 disappeared 2 years ago on 8th March 2014. It was en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew on board.
The plane is believed to have crashed into the southern Indian ocean.
Sources: The Star, The Straits Times, Australian Transport Safety Bureau.
