Australia: Mozambique debris ‘highly likely’ from Flight 370

In this August 10, 2015 photo, municipal workers search Reunion Island for debris of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370

Two pieces of debris recently discovered along the coast of Mozambique are “highly likely” to have come from missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, Australian and Malaysian officials said yesterday.
An analysis of the parts by an international investigation team showed both pieces are consistent with panels from a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 aircraft, Transport Minister Darren Chester said in a statement.
The dimensions, materials and construction of both parts conform to those of a 777, and the paint and stenciling on both parts match those used by Malaysia Airlines, Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said in a separate statement.
The discovery of the two pieces provides another piece of the puzzle into the plane’s fate, and bolsters authorities’ assertion that the plane went down somewhere in the Indian Ocean. But whether the debris can provide any clues into exactly what happened to the aircraft and why is uncertain.
Until now, the only other confirmed piece of debris from the Boeing 777 was a wing part that washed ashore on the French Indian Ocean island of Reunion last year.
Given the vast distances involved, the variability of winds and the time that has elapsed, it is impossible for experts to retrace the parts’ path back to where they first entered the water. And chances the debris itself could offer any fresh clues into precisely where the plane crashed are slim. MDT/AP