Is this jagged piece of metal the key to finding MH370? Blogger funding his own search for the missing plane releases pictures of 'vital clues'

Plane debris believed to be from missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 was discovered by an American blogger funding his own investigation into the aircraft's disappearance.

The object was found on a sandbank in the Mozambique channel, which separates the African continent and Madagascar, by MH370 enthusiast Blaine Alan Gibson.

The piece of metal, thought to be part of the plane's horizontal stabilizer, is now being sent to Australia for testing, officials said on Thursday 

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Plane debris believed to be from missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 was discovered by a blogger

The object, thought to be part of the plane's horizontal stabilizer (seen on the tail of this Boeing 777), was found on a sandbank in the Mozambique channel

Blaine Alan Gibson (pictured) has self-funded his own searching for missing aircraft

Mr Gibson, a lawyer and blogger, has been undertaking his own search travelling to remote islands in the Indian Ocean searching for any clues about MH370 since it disappeared in March 2014.

Chairman of the Institute of Civil Aviation of Mozambique, commander Joao de Abreu Martins, told CNN that Mr Gibson and a local fisherman had found the plane part.

Measuring 130 centimetres by 55 centimetres, the piece of metal is likely from a Boeing 777, according to officials.

'It never occurred to me that I would find something like this here. It's almost like a dream,' Mr Gibson told CNN. 

'I don't know if it's from 370 or another plane. Whatever it is, even if it's not from 370, it raises awareness that people need to look for stuff on beaches,' he added. 

Lawyer and blogger Blaine Alan Gibson and a local fisherman found the piece of metal

Measuring 130cm by 55cm, the piece of metal is likely from a Boeing 777, according to officials

The discovery is being analysed by investigators from Malaysia, Australia and the U.S

The only other piece of debris confirmed to be from MH370, which went missing in March 2014, was found on an island on the other side of Madagascar in July. 

The debris will be tested by officials in Australia, with help from Malaysian authorities and representatives of manufacturer Boeing Co.

'It is too early to speculate on the origin of the debris at this stage,' Australian Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Darren Chester told parliament.

However, the piece was found in 'a location consistent with drift modelling commissioned by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau', he said.  

Meanwhile, the family of Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah, the senior pilot of MH370, has pleaded for people not to place blame on him for the aircraft's disappearance.

'Please do not judge him based on theories....don't blame him unless there is evidence,' Mr Zaharie's sister Sakinab Shah said.

'I want to say that (he's) innocent until proven guilty. That is the mantra of modern civilization.'

Ms Shah said it was 'very convenient' to make him the scapegoat to absolve the airline from claims or protect the Malaysian government from possible cover-ups and U.S. airline manufacturer Boeing from losing business.

'When the search (for the plane) revealed nothing, they came back to this theory, but it's only a theory,' Ms Shah said.

 'If you have nothing tangible and nothing by way of evidence, it's tantamount to predicting he is guilty until proven innocent. This sets us back in the Dark Ages.'  

Allegations that he was a jihadist, or suicidal over a marital breakup, or that he doomed the aircraft in a political protest do not square with his family's memories of a kind, generous and happy man, his eldest sister said.

The only other piece of debris confirmed to be from MH370, which went missing in March 2014, was found on an island on the other side of Madagascar in July (pictured)

Officers carrying pieces of debris washed ashore in Saint-Andre de la Reunion, eastern La Reunion island, which was later confirmed as being from MH370

The 'rogue pilot' theory has been a focus of investigations after the Malaysian government said the plane was deliberately steered off course, but authorities have found no evidence linking Zaharie or his co-pilot, Fariq Abdul Hamid, to any wrongdoing.

The news of the possible plane part comes nearly two years to the day since the disappearance of the Malaysia Airline's flight, which vanished enroute from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board. 

Last July a two-metre-long wing part known as a flaperon washed up on a beach on the island of Reunion, located in the Indian Ocean, across Madagascar from where the latest debris was found.

French authorities subsequently confirmed 'with certainty' two months later than the wing part found on the remote island was from MH370. 

Tests were carried out on the flaperon, which was found on La Reunion in July, by the French body responsible for civil aviation accident investigations. 

The 6ft-long wing flap washed up 3,500 miles from the doomed jet's last-known location, fuelling hopes across the world that one of aviation's greatest mysteries could finally be solved.   

Last month, a large chunk of metal found washed up on a Malaysian beach in the Gulf of Thailand was believed to be from MH370, but was soon dismissed as being from a Japanese rocket.

It was the second time January that Malaysian authorities dismissed speculation that wreckage from the jet had been found, after a similar piece of ocean debris recovered from a beach in Southern Thailand  proved not to be from MH370. 

The news comes nearly two years to the day since the disappearance of the Malaysia Airline's flight, which vanished enroute from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board. 

The search for MH370, being conducted in the southern Indian Ocean south west of Australia, is due to end in June this year.