Malaysian MH370 - Flydel funnet i Thailand? - CNN

 

MH370 vanished on March 8, 2014. It was flying from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing, when it disappeared from radar.

Almost two years later, families of the 239 people on board still don't know what happened to their loved ones.

But last year, they received some sobering news: Malaysian and French officials said a piece of debris that washed up on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion came from MH370.

Details of the new mystery debris

The white, curved metal panel found Friday in Thailand is about the size of a man. Though the panel was covered in algae, mussels and barnacles, matching panel numbers and hinges can be seen on the riveted piece of metal.

 

 

A Royal Thai air force spokesman told CNN he believes the debris was from a commercial jet.

"From seeing the pictures in local news, this is definitely not a piece from military aircraft, but it looks like a section from a big commercial aircraft in my personal opinion," Chief Marshal Pongsak Semachai said.

But Malaysian aviation consultant Gerry Soetjatman said the debris doesn't look like it's from a jet.

"It is obvious to me that it isn't a plane or MH370, but it's too early to tell what it is yet," he said.

Soetjatman said the raised rivets seen on the debris are "much more typical of what you find on a rocket." For example, he said, Japan has launched rockets in the past two years that could be the source of the debris.

Wannago, the Thai aviation official, stressed it's too early to tell where the debris came from.

"We cannot confirm whether this debris on recent news is from an aircraft," she said. "And we (won't) know what it is until we have a close inspection at it."

Semachai said the Thai air force plans to dispatch a team to collect the debris and bring it to Bangkok on Monday.

Four Malaysian officials inspect suspected aircraft wreckage

Thai army soldier inspects a piece of suspected plane wreckage which has been found off the coast of southern Thailand in Nakhon Si Thammarat province. Reuters.

BANGKOK: Four Malaysian officials believed to be from the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) arrived in Nakhon Si Thammarat here to examine the suspected aircraft wreckage found at the province's coast, according to Thai police.

Pak Phanang district police chief Thanyapat Pattikongsan said the officers arrived about 10am local time Monday (11am Malaysian time) at the site of the wreckage and left about an hour later.

"They (Malaysian officers) spent about an hour at the site, inspected the suspected wreckage and collected evidence before leaving the area. They did not provide any details on their work," he told Bernama.

The Malaysian officials, he said, arrived at Nakhon Si Thammarat's airport Monday morning from Kuala Lumpur.

Local villagers reported the discovery of a large metal object, measuring two metres wide and three metres long, suspected to originate from an aircraft at the Pa Thya beach.

One of the Malaysian officials said the data and evidence collected from the debris would be sent to Kuala Lumpur for further analysis by experts.

"The data and evidence will be further analysed," said the Malaysian official.

Also present at the site were Thai DCA officials and security personnel. According to the Thai DCA, the debris will be flown to Bangkok to enable further analysis by experts.

Its deputy director-general Amphawan Wannako told Bernama that pictures of it may be sent to Boeing or the US National Transportation Safety Board for clarification.

The find off the shore of southern Thailand has prompted speculation the suspected plane wreckage could be that of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 which vanished from the radar during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing two years ago.

On Sunday, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai instructed DCA director-general Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman to contact the Thai authorities over the discovery.

There were 239 passengers and crew on board the doomed Boeing 777-200ER jetliner whose flight path ended in the southern Indian Ocean. - Bernama