Boeing 777 debris found on the island of Reunion appears to prove that missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 crashed in the Indian Ocean, but the cause of the disaster remains unknown. Below are key things we know, and don’t know, in the mysterious case of MH370. What we know
– We know MH370 took off from Kuala Lumpur with 227 passengers and 12 crew at 12:41 am on March 8 last year, climbing out over the South China Sea on a clear night, bound for Beijing.
– We know the plane was piloted by Zaharie Ahmad Shah, 53, a highly respected airman with 33 years of experience at the state flag carrier. Fariq Abdul Hamid, 27, was his co-pilot.
– We know that just before MH370 was to pass into Vietnam’s air-traffic control region, someone in the cockpit sent the final voice message back to Malaysian controllers: “Good night, Malaysian Three Seven Zero,” at 1:19am.
– We know that around 1:30 am, tracking systems such as the jet’s transponder were shut off, yet the plane appeared on military radar until 2:15 am as it turned back over Malaysia and flew out to the Indian Ocean.
– We know that a wing part found on Reunion has been confirmed as from a Boeing 777, making it virtually certain that it is from MH370 as no other such plane is known to have crashed in the area.
– We know that the 30-day beacon battery on MH370’s flight data recorder was later discovered to have expired more than a year before take-off, raising questions over whether this contributed to the inability of a multi-nation search to find an Indian Ocean crash site. What we don’t know
– We still have no idea what caused the plane to divert since neither the cockpit crew nor the plane’s monitoring systems gave any sign of trouble prior to that, and the weather was clear that night.
– We don’t know whether one of the cockpit crew was involved, considered by many experts to be the most likely explanation. Zaharie was a known supporter of Malaysia’s opposition, and it was later found that Fariq had let passengers into the cockpit on an earlier flight, breaching safety rules. But investigators say nothing in either man’s background suggests a desire to commit mass murder.
– We don’t know whether a hijack or terror attack was responsible, since there has never been a claim of responsibility by any group or individual.
– We don’t know why the plane’s tracking systems were switched off and by whom, an act that Malaysia has said appeared to be “deliberate.”
– We still don’t know exactly where MH370 went down, meaning we are no closer to recovering the aircraft’s black box and analysing it for clues as to what caused its disappearance.
Investigators probing missing flight MH370 collected more debris on an Indian Ocean island yesterday as Malaysia urged authorities in the region to be on alert for wreckage washing up on their shores.
Locals on La Reunion island have been combing the shores since a Boeing 777 wing part was found last Wednesday, sparking fevered speculation that it may be the first tangible evidence that the Malaysia Airlines plane crashed into the Indian Ocean.
However authorities cast doubt on whether the new debris was linked to MH370, and a source close to the investigation in Paris said “no object or debris likely to come from a plane” had been placed into evidence yesterday.
The debris, measuring about 100 square centimetres (15 square inches), was placed into an iron case.
Also yesterday a man handed police a piece of debris measuring 70 centimetres (27 inches), guessing it was part of a plane door.
Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said civil aviation authorities were reaching out to their counterparts in other Indian Ocean territories to be on the lookout for further debris.
“This is to allow the experts to conduct more substantive analysis should there be more debris coming onto land, providing us more clues to the missing aircraft.”
He also confirmed in a statement that the wing part found Wednesday on the French island had been “officially identified” as from a Boeing 777 – making it virtually certain that it was from missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
While the wing part – known as a flaperon – has been sent to France for further analysis, locals on La Reunion are scouring the beach for more debris in what a French source close to the investigation likened to a “treasure hunt”.
The discovery came after a gruelling 16-month search. The flight’s mysterious disappearance, which saw it vanish off radars as a key transponder appeared to have been shut off, has baffled aviation experts and grieving families and given rise to a myriad conspiracy theories.
Speculation on the cause of the plane’s disappearance has focused primarily on a possible mechanical or structural failure, a hijacking or terror plot, or rogue pilot action.
Malaysia’s deputy transport minister Abdul Aziz Kaprawi said that the Boeing 777 wing part “could be the convincing evidence that MH370 went down in the Indian Ocean.” “I believe that we are moving closer to solving the mystery of MH370,” he said.
Four Malaysian officials including the head of civil aviation are in Paris together with officials from Malaysia Airlines for a meeting on Monday with three French magistrates and an official from France’s civil aviation investigating authority BEA.
Australian search authorities leading the hunt for the aircraft some 4,000 kilometres (2,500 miles) from La Reunion are confident the main debris field is in their current search area.
Experts hope the 2-2.5 metre (6.5-8 feet) wing surface, known as a flaperon, and a fragment of luggage also found on Reunion could yield clues on the fate of Flight MH370, which
disappeared without trace in March 2014 with 239 passengers and crew on board.
Discovery of the debris may finally confirm MH370 crashed into the sea after veering off course from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, helping to end 16 months of lingering uncertainty for relatives of the passengers and crew.
Investigators believe someone deliberately switched off MH370’s transponder before diverting it thousands of miles off course.
The debris will be analysed at a lab staffed by 600 experts that is operated by the French defence ministry. The luggage fragment has been sent to a police unit outside Paris that specialises in DNA tests.
If the serial number on the flaperon confirms that it is from Flight 370, then the laboratory can use sophisticated tools to try to glean more information about the causes of the crash, such as whether its shape corresponds more to a mid-air explosion or a crash into the ocean.
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