Reunion Island wreckage IS from MH370, Malaysia Prime Minister confirms

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Malaysian PM confirms debris on Reunion Island is that from MH370
Najib Razak said he could confirm that the Boeing 777 has crashed in sea
Today officials in France began examining the wing fragment for clues
It was found on a beach in French Reunion Island, in the Indian Ocean

By Jennifer Newton and Corey Charlton and Richard Shears for MailOnline

Published: 07:44 EST, 5 August 2015 | Updated: 14:04 EST, 5 August 2015

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A plane wing found washed up on Reunion Island is from missing MH370, the Malaysian Prime Minister has confirmed.

Najib Razak has said that 515 days after the jet vanished, he is finally able to confirm that the aircraft crashed into the sea.

The wing fragment was found last week on the island in the Indian Ocean and it was suspected to be from the Malaysia Airlines plane, that went missing in March 2014 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

The discovery of a 7ft-long wing part called a flaperon on the French Indian Ocean is that from MH370, which went missing in March last year

Investigators carry the fragment of wing from the beach on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean. Today it was confirmed it was from missing MH370

The confirmation was made in a press conference by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak who said he was delivering the news with a 'heavy heart'

Mr Razak's widely expected announcement ends an agonising wait for families of the 239 passengers and crew who have demanded concrete proof of what happened to their missing loves ones

The Malaysian Prime Minister broke down in and appeared to wipe a tear from his eye while delivering the news about MH370 this evening

Malaysian PM confirms fragment is from missing MH370

Experts in France had been examining the debris, which was found on a beach and it is now the first sign of the aircraft since it went off radar.

Mr Razak said: 'Today, 515 days since the plane disappeared, it is with a very heavy heart that I must tell you that an international team of experts has conclusively confirmed that the aircraft debris found on Reunion Island is indeed from MH370.

'We now have physical evidence that, as I announced on 24th March last year, flight MH370 tragically ended in the southern Indian Ocean.'

Mr Razak's widely expected announcement ends an agonising wait for families of the 239 passengers and crew who have demanded concrete proof of what happened to their missing loves ones.

But next-of-kin, investigators, and the aviation industry are still left with the question of what caused the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 aircraft to inexplicably divert on the way to the Chinese capital.

A police car leaves the building in Toulouse, France, where the plane wing was tested today by aviation experts

A policeman stands guard at the entrance of the facility, where French, Malaysian and Australian officials were present

Suspected MH370 wreckage arrives in France for analysis

The flight apparently veered out over the Indian Ocean, flying for hours after its communications and tracking systems were shut off, in what remains one of the biggest mysteries in the history of aviation.

Mr Razak gave no indication that the analysis of the debris yielded any clues into the cause of the disappearance.

He added: 'I would like to assure all those affected by this tragedy that the government of Malaysia is committed to do everything within our means to find out the truth of what happened.

'MH370's disappearance marked us as a nation. We mourn with you, as a nation.'

In a statement, Malaysia Airlines also said the flaperon, the wing part, was confirmed to be of Flight 370 by the French agency that investigates air crashes, known as the BEA, the Malaysian investigation team, a technical representative from PRC and the Australian Transportation Safety Bureau in Toulouse, France.

It said: 'Family members of passengers and crew have already been informed and we extend our deepest sympathies to those affected.

'This is indeed a major breakthrough for us in resolving the disappearance of MH370. We expect and hope that there would be more objects to be found which would be able to help resolve this mystery.'

The beach on Reunion Island, where the debris was found. Mr Najib's widely expected announcement ends an agonising wait for families of the 239 passengers and crew who have demanded concrete proof of what happened to their missing loves ones

The Malaysia Airlines jet disappeared on March 8 last year, inexplicably veering off course en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board

But some of the relatives of those aboard the plane said the confirmation the plane had crashed was not enough to lay the matter to rest.

Jacquita Gonzales, whose husband Patrick Gomes was chief steward on board MH370, demanded answers on what caused its disappearance.

She said: 'Now I want to know where the main body of the plane is so that we can take out the passengers and get the black box so we can know what happened. Only that, for us, will be full closure.'

The testing in France today involved trying to establish how the flaperon was torn off, where barnacles on the part might have originated and which airline had painted the part in white.

But despite the Malaysian announcement that the wing was confirmed as coming from MH370, prosecutors in France, stopped short of declaring they were certain, although they said there was a very strong likelihood that was the case.

John Goglia, a former member of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said: 'The real work is yet to begin.

'They will identify everything they can from the metal: damage, barnacles, witness marks on the metal.

'They're going to look at the brackets (that held the flapron in place) to see how they broke.

From that they can tell the direction and attitude of the airplane when it hit. There's a lot to be told from the metal.'

The Malaysia Airlines jet disappeared on March 8 last year, inexplicably veering off course, sparking a colossal but ultimately fruitless multinational hunt for the aircraft.

A group of police officers on French Reunion Island, in the Indian Ocean, look out across the beach where the plane wing washed up

Two police officers carry a small box from the beach containing debris which will be analysed

But last week's discovery of a 7ft-long wing part called a flaperon on the French Indian Ocean island raised fresh hopes for relatives desperate for answers.

The Boeing 777 piece was taken to the southwestern French city of Toulouse, where it underwent tests at a high-tech laboratory, where journalists from around the world were camped outside today.

The case containing the wing part will be opened in the presence of French, Malaysian and Australian experts, Boeing employees and representatives from China - the country that lost the most passengers.

Experts had previously used computer calculations in June 2014 to decide that debris would first be found on the west coast of Indonesia.

The Malaysia Airlines plane went missing 515 days ago while en route from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia to Beijing

Reunion Island (pictured) was thrust into the international spotlight after last week's remarkable discovery

This was based on the movement of currents in a general anti-clockwise direction, which would have carried debris from the search area off the south west coast of Australia towards the north east.

But the discovery of part of the wing has resulted in the Australian Transport Safety Bureau issuing a statement today admitting an error.

The Transport Safety Bureau, which is leading the search said initial drift modelling had mistakenly indicated the first possible landfall of debris would be on the west of Indonesia’s Sumatra island.

However, the bureau insisted today that the mistake did not affect the extensive international surface search for the missing plane off the south west coast of Australia.

The bureau said: 'While this error in that model had no impact on the way the surface search was conducted, it was important in order to understand over the course of time where debris might wash up and help verify or discount the various items found on beaches, particularly on the west coast of Australia.'