Crash investigators believe with a “high degree of certainty” that the wing part that washed up on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean last week indeed did come from missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 — though they have stopped just short of confirming a definitive positive identification.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced yesterday that the Boeing 777 flaperon that was sent to a French lab for testing definitely came from Flight 370. But French investigators speaking at a Paris press conference later in the day wouldn’t go that far, saying only that there are “very strong presumptions” that the part came from the missing airliner, which disappeared in March 2014 with 239 people aboard.
Representatives from Boeing, meanwhile, have confirmed that the part came from a 777, but their analysis so far has apparently been unable to prove conclusively that it came from the missing jetliner. Multiple media sources have reported that no serial numbers were found on the flaperon to link it to a particular airplane.
In any event, even if investigators can eventually prove that the part came from Flight 370, it’s unlikely to provide the crucial clues they need to tell them exactly where to search for the missing airplane.
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