MH370: France to step up air, sea search for wreckage

French gendarmes and police inspect a large piece of plane debris which was found on the beach in Saint-Andre, on the French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion, in this picture taken July 29, 2015. Investigators in France have ascertained that the barnacle-covered debris, a 2-2.5 metre (6.5-8 feet) wing surface known as a flaperon, belonged to Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 just days after Malaysia identified it as being part of the same model, a Boeing 777. Picture taken July 29, 2015. - REUTERS

PARIS: France will launch new searches by air, land and sea from Reunion in the hopes of finding more wreckage from MH370, after Malaysia said a wing part washed up on the Indian Ocean island came from the ill-fated flight.

A Casa military aircraft will begin surveying the area from Friday morning, the French government said in a statement.

The search will also be stepped up with foot patrols, helicopters and maritime units, it added.

“Any discovery will be immediately made available to the investigation,” said the joint statement on Thursday by the French ministers of defence, transport and overseas territories.

Separately, local authorities for the island district where the first piece of debris was found said they would organise a thorough search for other parts from the plane starting Monday.

The renewed efforts to hunt for MH370 wreckage came after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced that a 2m-long wing part that was discovered on French Reunion island last week was confirmed as coming from the missing aircraft, the first physical proof it met a tragic end in the Indian Ocean 17 months ago.

“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 Reunion Island is indeed from MH370,” Najib said earlier Thursday.

The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 carrying 239 people on board disappeared on March 8 last year, inexplicably veering off course en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

The search for MH370 turned into one of the biggest mysteries in the history of aviation, sparking a colossal hunt in the Indian Ocean based on satellite data which hinted at MH370’s possible path.

Malaysia Airlines described confirmation that the wing part came from MH370 as a “major breakthrough” that it said would hopefully help to find the plane somewhere in the depths of the Indian Ocean.

Australian authorities, who have led a multinational search for the aircraft, expressed confidence that they were searching in the right area and that the body of the plane would eventually be found.

“It suggests that for the first time we might be a little bit closer to solving this baffling mystery,” Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said.

But French prosecutors involved in determining if the wing part was from MH370 used more cautious language than Najib, saying only there was a “very high probability” it came from the plane.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said on Thursday that more possible MH370 objects – aircraft seat cushions and windows – had been discovered on Reunion, but “it has to be verified by the French authorities”.

A French judicial source, however, said French investigators had not received any new items.

Anguished family members have been waiting for news with a mix of anticipation and dread, and some said the first concrete proof of the plane’s fate would help bring closure.

Sara Weeks, the sister of MH370 passenger Paul Weeks of New Zealand, said the confirmation ended “a week of turmoil”.

“We’ve had 17 months of nothing ... so actually finding something is the first step towards pinpointing where it is,” she told the Fairfax New Zealand media group.

China’s foreign ministry said Najib’s declaration “confirmed the verdict on the Malaysia Airlines accident", and expressed “deep grief” for the passengers.

Gerry Soejatman, a Jakarta-based aviation consultant, said people had to be realistic in their expectations and that it was lucky “that we found something at all”.

“This answers a lot of questions actually. It eliminates other theories, conspiracy theories. If the black box is found later on, it is likely we could get more answers,” he said.

It is hoped that more detailed examination in the coming days may indicate how the piece detached from the wing and whether it showed traces of an explosion or fire.

Scientists have also said barnacles on the flaperon could indicate how long it was in the water, and perhaps where it had been.  - AFP