Confirmation debris found on Reunion Island is from missing plane MH370.

Finally. The news the world has been waiting for.

Sixteen months after Malaysia Airlines jet MH370 went missing Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has confirmed that a piece of debris found washed up on the French island, Reunion is indeed from the missing plane.

The wing fragment, known as a flaperon was examined by technical experts in France overnight.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said:

“Today, 513 days since the plane disappeared, it is with a very heavy heart that I must tell you that an international team of experts has conclusively confirmed that the aircraft debris found on Réunion is indeed from MH370.

“We now have physical evidence that on 31 March last year, flight MH370 tragically ended in the south Indian ocean.”

He expressed his sympathy to the families of those onboard “I hope that this confirmation, however tragic and painful, will at least bring certainty to the families and loved ones of the 239 people on board MH370.”

His announcement surprised many coming so soon after the wing part analysis began.

French prosecutor Serge Mackowiak gave a press conference where he was a little more circumspect with his words: “I think we can say that as of today there is a very strong supposition that the flaperon found on the beach of the island on the 29th of July actually does belong to the Boeing 777 of MH370, which disappeared on the 8th of March 2014.”

The wing part was examined in the presence of French, Malaysian, Chinese and Australian representatives at a military laboratory in the southern city of Toulouse after it was discovered last week on the Indian Ocean island of La Reunion.

Malaysia Airlines followed up the news by releasing a statement:

Malaysia Airlines would like to sincerely convey our deepest sorrow to the families and friends of the passengers onboard Flight MH370 on the news that the flaperon found on Reunion Island on 29 July was indeed from Flight MH370.

This has been confirmed jointly today by the French Authorities, Bureau d’ Enquetes et d‘ Analyses pour la Securites de I’AviationCivile (BEA), the Malaysian Investigation Team, Technical Representative from PRC and Australian Transportation Safety Bureau (ATSB) in Toulouse, France and subsequently announced by the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak.

Family members of passengers and crew have already been informed and we extend our deepest sympathies to those affected.

The jet disappeared on March 8 last year when it inexplicably veered off course en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.

But last week’s discovery of the two-metre-long wing part called a flaperon raised fresh hopes for relatives who have followed the search day-in-and-day-out with heavy hearts.

Nir Barnea, west coast regional co-ordinator for the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s marine debris program told Fairfax Media that while the discovery might offer clues to the condition of the plane when it vanished with 239 people on board, it’s likely to be of scant value in pinpointing a new search zone for the Boeing 777.

“Currents can go in different directions even in a small area,”

“Two items that enter the ocean at the same time in the same place can diverge more and more until they end up in completely different places.”

Research into the 2011 tsunami in Japan showed  it is almost impossible to determine where an object has entered the water using the location of its eventual recovery.

One official pointed out the debris, which is being taken to a laboratory in France for testing, would have been in the water for well over a year if it is from MH370.

Therefore, it could have moved “so far that it’s not going to be that helpful in pinpointing precisely where the aircraft is”, they said.

There have also been suggestions that the barnacles growing on the wing could provide a clue about the water conditions under which they were formed and narrow down the search area considerably.

The search for the black box remains the priority of authorities.

There are still many theories as to what happened to MH370.

ABC News reports that a US intelligence assessment, based on satellite data and other evidence, has speculated the plane was deliberately steered off course and potentially deliberately downed.

Experts will now examine a tattered piece of luggage on the same beach.

For the relatives the news this morning will be greeted with mixed emotions.

Jennifer Chong of Melbourne, whose husband Chong Ling Tan was on board MH370 said that the days since the flaperon was found have been “a torturous wait” for relatives of the missing passengers.
“The familiar overpowering emotions and intense shock are hitting once more, but this time it’s worse,” she said. “I have yet to convince my heart to give up the hope that I’ve been holding onto for the last 16 months

Jacquita Gonzales, the wife of Malaysia Airlines staff member Patrick Gomes, said last week she was “torn” about whether she hoped the news would come through it was MH370.

“If it is confirmed to have come from 370, there will be some closure for us, but I am also hoping it’s not the plane — that Patrick is still alive.”

Sadly the first chapter on this great aviation tragedy has now closed. The plane did indeed crash into the ocean.

The next chapter will hopefully shed light on where and why the disaster took place.

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