Large pieces of plane wreckage were found washed up on the French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion (off the coast of Madagascar) on Wednesday.
Officials are trying to determine if the items are linked to the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 . MH370 has been missing for over a year.
Malaysia Airlines released the following short statement via Twitter: “With regards to the reports of the discovery at Reunion Island, we’re working with the relevant authorities to confirm the matter. At the moment, it would be too premature for the airline to speculate the origin of the object.”
“It was covered in shells, so one would say it had been in the water a long time,” said one witness, the AFP reported.
From CNN: The debris was found off the coast of St. Andre, a community on the island, according to Adjutant Christian Retournat. “It is way too soon to say whether or not it is MH370. We just found the debris this morning,” Retournat said.
He said the debris — what appears to be a wing flap — has been taken to the island, located about 380 nautical miles off the coast of Madagascar.
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared on March, 8, 2014, while flying from Kuala Lumpur International Airport near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing, China.
There were 239 passengers and crew – most of whom were from China – on board when it disappeared.
MH370 vanished from radar screens shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur.
370 last made voice contact with air traffic control at 01:19 MYT (17:19 UTC, 7 March) when it was over the South China Sea, less than an hour after takeoff.
The aircraft disappeared from air traffic controllers’ radar screens at 01:21.
Malaysian military radar continued to track Flight 370 as it deviated from its planned flight path and crossed the Malay Peninsula. Flight 370 left the range of Malaysian military radar at 02:22 while over the Andaman Sea, 200 nautical miles (370 km; 230 mi) northwest of Penang in northwestern Malaysia. The aircraft, a Boeing 777-200ER, was carrying 12 Malaysian crew members and 227 passengers from 15 nations.
