JACC says subsequent examination has indicated that in all probability, the wreckage, a wing part known as a flaperon, was from MH370
KUALA LUMPUR : Finally, the
Australian Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) has confirmed that an
aircraft wing part known as flaperon found in the French Reunion Island is from
the vanished Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.
“Subsequent examination has
indicated that in all probability, the wreckage, a wing part known as a
flaperon, was from MH370,” said JACC in a statement on Wednesday.
On July 29, a piece of the aeroplane
wing was discovered on the Reunion Island coast and was sent to France for
further analysis.
On August 6, Malaysian Prime
Minister Najib Tun Razak confirmed that part of the flaperon found on Reunion
Island was part of the aircraft.
Flight MH370 disappeared on March 8,
last year after its departure from Kuala Lumpur with 239 passengers on board,
among them 154 Chinese nationals.
On the search operation development,
JACC said Fugro Discovery, the search and recovery vessel for MH370, had
arrived in the Indian Ocean and commenced operations earlier Wednesday.
“Fugro Equator arrived in Fremantle,
Australia this morning for routine re-supply and will depart for the search
area Thursday,” it said.
Meanwhile, The Maldivian minister
attached to the president’s office, Mohamed Shareef was quoted by Agence
France-Presse (AFP) as saying that three Malaysian aviation experts had begun
examining debris found in the island on Wednesday to determine if it could be
wreckage from MH370.
Mohamed Shareef said the three, led
by Malaysian Civil Aviation Department director-general Azharuddin Abdul Rahman
had met up with local authorities and inspected the debris after arriving on
the island Tuesday night.
Shareef told the news agency in a
phone conversation that the experts would return to Malaysia later Wednesday
before reporting to Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai.
– BERNAMA
