Airplane Debris Probably Belongs to MA370

Since it first disappeared in 2014, the missing Malaysian Airlines 370 flight has held the world in its grasp as scientists and search teams have spent hundreds of hours combing the oceans to find the wreckage and give the grieving families some sort of respite from the torture of not knowing where their missing loved ones are. Now, with the discovery of airplane debris on the French island of Reunion, which is off the coast of Madagascar, everyone personally and officially involved with this mystery is feeling a sense of hope knowing that we’re closer to finding the wreckage than we’ve ever been before.

The piece that was found was a flaperon, a piece of the plane that is used to control speed and height. While there is no official confirmation that the flaperon found belongs to the missing MA370 flight, the discovery of a piece of luggage near the flaperon is leading people to believe that this may be the first piece that finally helps solve the puzzle. Another piece of information that is leading to this conclusion is that initial tests have shown that the piece belongs to a Boeing 777 airplane and the only missing 777 in the world is the MA370 flight.

However not everyone is convinced. A number of oceanographers are on both sides of the case — some believe that this is a clue and others say it isn’t. On one side, Charitha Pattiaratchi, an oceanography professor at the University of Western Australia, created a models last year that said the ocean currents would drag the pieces of the plane off the coast of Madagascar within 18 months after the crash, a fact that fits the current date of finding the flaperon. However, other oceanographers, such as Erik van Sebille from Imperial College London, believe that the currents would drag debris towards the Pacific ocean, meaning that the flaperon isn’t part of MA370. Regardless of who is correct, this new discovery is giving hope to hundreds of people and very well may be the key to solving one of aviations biggest mysteries.

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