Malaysia Airlines: ‘Premature’ to link debris to missing plane

Malaysia Airlines officials say it is too early to determine if plane parts that have been discovered on the French island Réunion are related to its missing Flight 370, which disappeared during a flight last year. 

Investigators, including representatives from the airplane manufacturer Boeing, said this week that they believe debris that was spotted on the Indian Ocean island matches the missing plane.

Malaysia Air said it’s “premature” to link the debris to its Boeing 777 airplane that disappeared during a flight from Malaysia to China last year.    

{mosads}”With regards to the reports of the discovery of an aircraft flaperon at Réunion Island, Malaysia Airlines is working with the relevant authorities to confirm the matter,” the company said in a statement. “At the moment, it would be too premature for the airline to speculate the origin of the flaperon.” 

The disappearance of Malaysia Airline Flight 370 has baffled aviation experts and lawmakers in Washington, D.C., for more than a year. 

The plane was last detected by air traffic controllers about an hour into its flight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing on March 8, 2014. 

Since then, officials from multiple nations have conducted a prolonged search for the plane, focusing first on the Gulf of Thailand and later on the southern Indian Ocean. 

Last spring satellite images of potential debris in the water that officials believed could have been related to the missing plane raised officials’ hopes — falsely — of finding the aircraft’s remnants.

The plane was carrying 239 passengers and crew members at the time of its disappearance.

Malaysia has sent investigators to Réunion Island to confirm if the debris is from the missing plane.