The University of Western Australia oceanography department says it may be able to establish the general crash zone for MH370. By using reverse computer modelling of the drift of what is believed to be the Boeing 777 wing section that washed ashore at Reunion Island yesterday, they can track the piece back to where the aircraft most likely hit the ocean.
However working against the effort is that only one apparent piece has been loacted and more are needed to refine the origin.
Over 12 months ago, Charitha Pattiaratchi Professor of Coastal Oceanography at the School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering & UWA Oceans Institute predicted that any debris from MH370 which disappeared on March 8 last year with 239 aboard would come ashore in East Africa or the offshore islands around this time.
The debris is carried by the anti clockwise Indian Ocean current which flows up the WA coast and then westward to Africa.
Professor Pattiaratchi is hopeful that more debris will be found in the area of Reunion Island which will enable his team to give searchers an even more accurate location for MH370.
The wing piece that has been located is called a flaperon and is used to control the Boeing 777 in flight.
While officials are tight lipped about confirming it is from a Boeing 777 and thus MH370, the aeronautical engineering community is abuzz with confirmation of its origin being from a Boeing 777.
Late yesterday the British Guardian newspaper was quoting Julien Delarue, a journalist with Journal de L’île de la Réunion, saying that a mechanic from the Réunion-based airline, Air Austral, which operates 777s had concluded with 99.9 per cent certainty that it originated from that type of aircraft.
Transport Minister Warren Truss said the debris was the first real evidence there was a possibility that part of the missing Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 had been located.
The Malaysian government has dispatched an investigative team to Reunion Island to examine the debris, Malaysian Minister of Transportation Liow Tiong Lai told media in New York.
“We need to verify. We have wreckage found that needs to be further verified before we can further confirm if it belongs to MH370,” said Liow Tiong Lai.
