KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) – Malaysian officials said Sunday that they would seek help from territories near the island where a suspected piece of the missing Malaysia Airlines jet was discovered to try to find more plane debris.
Government officials will ask territories near the French island of Reunion in the western Indian Ocean to alert them if they find any debris that could be from a plane, said a transport ministry official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
A wing flap suspected to be from the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was found Wednesday on Reunion. It arrived Saturday at a French military testing facility, where it will be analyzed by experts.
Air safety investigators, including one from Boeing, have identified the component as a flaperon from the trailing edge of a Boeing 777 wing, a U.S. official has said. Flight 370 is the only missing 777 and many are convinced the flap comes from the ill-fated jet.
Malaysia’s transport ministry confirmed Sunday that the flaperon has been identified as being from a 777, saying it had been verified by French authorities together with Boeing, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and a Malaysian team.