Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370: French Investigators Confirm Debris Found Belongs To Missing Plane

The mystery surrounding Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 may soon be coming to a close. According to the Chicago Tribune, a piece of debris found on Reunion Island back in July underwent various testing for several weeks, but today, French investigators have finally confirmed that the piece of wing (called a flaperon) that washed up on shore is indeed part of the missing aircraft.

“Today it is possible to state with certitude that the flaperon discovered on Reunion July 29, 2015 corresponds with that of Flight MH370,” the prosecutor’s statement said.

Although Malaysian authorities were quick to say that the debris was indeed from the missing Boeing 777, it was the French who were in charge of the research, as Reunion Island is a French entity. They could not say for certain whether or not the piece was from flight 370 until now.

“The Malaysian Prime Minister said a few weeks ago that the debris clearly is from MH370, which disappeared with 239 people aboard in March 2014. Investigators in France had said there were ‘very strong presumptions’ that the debris, called a flaperon, was from MH370, but that further testing was needed to say that with ironclad confidence,” CNN reports.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has been missing since March 8, 2014. Although many have presumed that the plane crashed into the Indian Ocean, there were several people still holding out some kind of hope for the lives of the 239 people on board. Although there have been plenty of conspiracy theories to go around, it does indeed sound like the plane is somewhere in the Indian Ocean.

What may have happened to the aircraft is still unknown, but researchers are focused on finding the rest of the fuselage.

There has been an underwater search ongoing for over a year now, but finding this piece of debris — and having it be confirmed as part of the missing plane — is giving families hope that they may finally have the answers that they have been seeking. They may not be the answers some were hoping for, but they will hopefully lead to some closure.

The MH370 investigation is far from over, but it now seems beyond clear that this Boeing 777 is in the water. While the Indian Ocean is vast, many feel as though the wreckage will turn up.

The confirmation that this debris is part of that missing plane is just a small piece to the puzzle. But it is definitive, which moves the world one step closer to finding out what happened on that fateful March night.

[Photo by Aero Icarus from Zürich, Switzerland via Wikimedia Commons]