Finding MH370

The disappearance of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 (MH370) on March 8 last year, with 239 people on board, turned into one of the biggest aviation mysteries of all time. The discovery of a flaperon, a wing part, in Reunion last week, which Boeing confirmed was from a Boeing 777, raised hopes it could be from the missing plane. The flaperon was taken to Toulouse for tests, as Reunion is an overseas French department, and the Malaysian government confirmed on Thursday that it is from MH370.

Yet, families of the Chinese victims, the majority of passengers on board, are still angry, questioning the Malaysian government’s rush to “conclusively” confirm the debris is from MH370. While another round of tests is being conducted in Toulouse, it’s reportedly understood the results leave little room for doubt. The families’ ire must be seen against the backdrop of Malaysia’s less than professional handling of the aftermath of the tragedy. MH370 had deviated from its flight path between Malaysian and Vietnamese radar, turned west and then northwest-ward over Malaysian and Thai airspace, before seemingly heading out to the southern Indian Ocean, where it is believed to have crashed.

Conclusive identification of the flaperon will lay to rest several conspiracy theories. But it cannot explain how the plane crashed or why its electronic trackers appeared to be deliberately switched off. Nor will it help the search for the plane. The flaperon washing up in Reunion will only validate simulations of how the Indian Ocean Gyre possibly carried the debris as flotsam. But it will, undoubtedly, re-energise the search and remind the world that the victims’ families still wait for answers.