Possibly the greatest modern day aviation mystery is that of MH370, the Malaysia Airlines 777 which disappeared early last year while enroute from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. It’s bad enough when a plane goes down, but I can’t even begin to imagine what it’s like to have a family member or friend on the flight and have no closure and no clue what actually happened.
We’ve seen all kinds of theories about what caused MH370 to go down and where the plane is. Some so ridiculous that they’re almost believable. Air Crash Investigation even has an episode with the facts and their theory on what happened, which at least summarizes things nicely for those who haven’t been following along:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGUiCQmrITo
Anyway, just as everyone was starting to lose hope, there might be a breakthrough in the case of MH370. For the first time in a while there seems to be a lead which actually seems reputable. Specifically, a part of a plane was found on Reunion Island, which is off the coast of Madagascar.
Debris found off Reunion Island being examined to see if it's related to #MH370, official says http://t.co/1bIWTP1UZv pic.twitter.com/pq2q9B3PkP
— CNN (@CNN) July 29, 2015
Here’s a picture of the plane part which was found:
https://twitter.com/_esaliba/status/626418277607206912/photo/1
Obviously this is still “developing,” though you can bet my eyes will be glued to the TV and social media for the foreseeable future, as I think this is about the most realistic lead we’ve had in a while. That’s not a small aircraft part at all, and I don’t think there are that many unaccounted for plane parts from large aircraft.
Here’s to hoping the wreckage is finally found so there’s some closure for the friends and families of those aboard, as well as some insight into what actually happened, so that aviation safety can be improved going forward.
For more actually useful coverage on this, check out the Huffington Post article about it.
What do you make of this — think there’s a chance it might actually be wreckage from MH370?
They have also found a small luggage with the lock still closed but smashed at the exact same place...
http://www.lepoint.fr/monde/vol-mh370-malaysia-airlines-juge-premature-de-speculer-sur-la-decouverte-d-un-debris-d-avion-30-07-2015-1953492_24.php
Here is a video where we can see more of the piece they found :
http://lci.tf1.fr/france/faits-divers/debris-d-avion-retrouve-a-la-reunion-la-malaisie-pense-qu-il-s-agit-8640196.html
It's in French, sorry for that...
seems very likely it could have drifted there from someplace in the Indian Ocean. If you look at historical current maps of the Indian Ocean as well as the normal directions of the Indian Gyre it seems plausible for plane parts to have made their way there. Also, CNN is reporting that it is indeed a 777 part.
Well not to join conspiracy theories, but I was in the Maldives at the time and the southern islanders said they saw a large aircraft with blue and red on tail flying very low over the islands. These people weren't seeking publicity. The news was all over the Maldives by word of mouth.
Part will have a Serial Plate on it, the spot where they normally are shows that its not there anymore, they are normally held on with Glue and it could have washed off. Sometimes they are held on with rivets.
There could also be marker pen remarks on it somewhere about its serial.
Match the number, then we know what plane it belongs with.
It is certainly a part from some plane. I would imagine if it went down in the Indian Ocean the current could have washed it up onto Reunion Island. The Indian Ocean is one of the roughest oceans and most remote parts of the world. They may never find the plane if it went down there.
Still think they will have a difficult time finding the plane. There is just so much ocean to search unless they can find more debris, but time is their enemy at this point.
I have a few questions to raise:
If the plane were to go that far off it would have to go over India or Diego Gracia(which is a naval airbase) and over several other land masses,doesn't this raise a question as to how even one of those did not pick up the aircraft of Radar?
Looks like it could be part of a flap rather than the fixed structures of the wing.
Am keeping an open mind as to which aircraft it might belong too, there have been other crashes in the area and it's possible that not all wreckage was recovered from those accidents.
Looks suspiciously like a piece of wing and gut feel says it is from 370. Doesn't mean they are any closer to finding it; it just supports that the plane went downsomewhere in the Indian Ocean. It has had over a year to wash to Reunion.
As devastating as this incident was - It comes to my mind quite often. Because I am still interested on seeing what actually happened and seeing what development has been made in the search of MH370. It brings jitters to my stomach what the friends and families for those aboard might be feeling. Lets hope theres some closure to this and this find to me might give us some more insight.
@asar
A small part like this could reasonably catch a current and make it from the current search area to Reunion Island.
:O
I think this is the first time I am seeing Madagascar as a possible destination of the plane