August 10, 2015

Aviation experts confirmed last week that a piece of an airplane wing that washed up on a beach at remote island in the Indian Ocean is from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. The fragment represents the first physical evidence of the missing Boeing 777 aircraft yet found. The disappearance of Flight 370 more than one year ago has been one of the greatest unsolved mysteries of modern aviation.

Flight MH370 was flown in a Boeing 777-300, a large twin-engine passenger jet. The airliner can fly about a fourth of the way around the world without refueling. (The Boeing Company)

The fragment, a six-foot (2 meter) portion of a wing flap, washed ashore on July 29 at a beach on Réunion, a remote volcanic island about 400 miles (640 kilometers) east of Madagascar. Investigators quickly determined that it came from a Boeing 777, the same kind of aircraft as Flight 370.

On March 8, 2014, Malaysia Airlines flight 370 took off from Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur on a flight to Beijing with 227 passengers and 12 crew members. About 2 hours into the routine flight, all contact with the aircraft was lost. The mysterious disappearance of the flight led to a massive international search effort. This, in turn, triggered a massive media frenzy with “experts” endlessly speculating on what might have gone wrong. Clues from satellite data showed the aircraft made a controlled turn mid-flight and it then flew along the southern corridor towards the middle of the Indian Ocean. Experts believe the airplane crashed in the ocean somewhere west of Perth, Australia. But no wreckage or other remains of the airplane or passengers has been found in more than a year.

A check of records of aircraft and replacement parts found that Flight 370 was the only plane of that model missing in the world. By the weekend, the fragment was flown to Toulouse, France, for closer inspection by aeronautical engineers at a test facility run by the French military. Aviation experts think that a close examination of the wing flap could provide clues about the moment when the plane hit the water. By examining how the wing flap broke off, they can tell the direction and attitude of the airplane when it hit the water. However, the sole fragment will not likely answer the question of exactly what went wrong on the ill-fated flight. Meanwhile, the search continues for more evidence that can finally solve the mystery of Flight 370.

Other World Book articles:

• Aviation (2014) – A Back in Time article
• Disasters (2014) – A Back in Time article
• Flight MH370 Went Down in the Southern Indian Ocean, Analysts Conclude (March 24, 2014) – A Behind the Headlines article
• Vessels Search for MH370 Detect Signals off Australia (April 7, 2014) – A Behind the Headlines article