MH370: Reverse drift modelling impossible!

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August 02, 2015

Hopes that a piece of wing debris from a Boeing 777 could quickly lead investigators to the main wreckage of MH370 have been dashed because of uncertainty surrounding the date it washed ashore at the Reunion Islands.

Yesterday Charitha Pattiaratchi Professor of Coastal Oceanography at University of Western Australia said that the reverse drift modelling was “impossible” due to question marks over timing.

Last year, after the loss of MH370 with 239 passengers and crew on March 8, the University’s forward drift analysis predicted debris would wash up in East Africa region within 12 to 18 months if the plane crashed where the investigators are currently looking 1,800km south-west of Perth Australia.

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“Current and wind patterns change so to do reverse modelling you need an accurate location and time when the debris came ashore,” said Professor Pattiaratchi.

Over the weekend it was revealed that the flaperon was first discovered in May but not reported and could have come ashore earlier.

And a man who works as a rubbish collector on the island has also admitted that he has been burning possible aircraft debris as part of his job.

According to the UK Telegraph’s Harriet Alexander, Nicolas Ferrier found two suitcases “full of things” which he burnt.

“That’s my job. I collect rubbish, and burn it.”

“I could have found many things that belonged to the plane, and burnt them, without realising,” Mr Ferrier told Ms Alexander.

He noticed the flaperon in May and used it as a table when he was fishing!

According to the Telegraph’s article his story is supported by another local named as Isabelle, who spotted the same object while walking on the beach in May, accompanied by her 10-year-old son.

“It was the beginning of the holidays – around May 10,” she told local news website Zinfos974.com.

“I was walking with my son, Krishna. Then from a rock on which we were standing, he saw an object and shouted: ‘Mum that looks like the wing of a plane!'”

Krishna then jumped on what looked like a suitcase. He managed to prise it open, and then spotted another suitcase buried in the black sand.

They went home, and thought nothing of it until last week when the flaperon discover was announced according to Ms Alexander.

The flaperon, was transported to the French government laboratories in Toulouse on Saturday for detailed examination which will start on Wednesday this week.

As well as identifying what Boeing 777 the flaperon came from the investigators, if they link it to MH370, will then examine damage and look for chemical traces to see if that will give them clues to what happened to the aircraft.

A critical identification plate on the Boeing 777 flaperon that would possibly link it immediately to MH370 is missing because of the effect of sea water on the adhesive that bonds it to the structure.

According to a former crash investigator the metal ID plate has almost certainly come away because of the “exposure to sea water.”

So what should have been a simple ID exercise now becomes a time consuming forensic investigation.

A Boeing part number (657BB) painted on to the flaperon confirms the object is from a Boeing 777, according to the Malaysian Deputy Transport Minister Abdul Aziz Kaprawi.

“From the part number, it is confirmed that it is from a Boeing 777 aircraft. This information is from MAS (Malaysia Airlines). They have informed me,” said Deputy Transport Minister Abdul Aziz Kaprawi.

Investigators will likely have to take the flaperon apart to locate serial numbers that will indicate what batch the flaperon or its components came from and Boeing will be able to trace it to the actual 777 that it was installed.