The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has confirmed on September 15 that the flap section found on the island of Pemba off the coast of the east African country of Tanzania in June belongs to the ill-fated Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370.
The latest ATSB announcement comes as the official search for the wreckage of the plane in the vast Indian Ocean is set to be concluded in December, notes the International Business Times.
The large flap section is just one of the many debris found over the last couple of months mostly on the eastern shores of Africa.
In its official report, the ATSB said that upon the flap section’s arrival, several part numbers were immediately located on the debris that confirmed the preliminary identification. The initial findings were consistent with the physical appearance, dimensions, and construction of the part.
The bureau added that all of the identification stamps had a second OL number, in addition to the Boeing part number that was the unique identifier related to part construction.
Boeing subsequently recovered build records for the numbers located on the part and confirmed that all of the numbers related to the same serial numbered outboard flap that was shipped to Boeing as line number 404 are the same.
Based on the company’s records, aircraft line number 404 was delivered to Malaysian Airlines and registered as 9M-MRO.
Just like what they did to the flaperon found last year near the coast of Reunion Island off Madagascar, ATSB would use their confirmation on the flap section to determine how the debris drifted to its final resting place as affected by winds and currents.
One of the biggest aviation mysteries of all time
Investigators are confident that the confirmation of the flap section and the flaperon could help them solve one of the biggest aviation mysteries of all time, reports the Express of UK.
They are still examining other pieces of debris that were found in Mozambique, South Africa, and the Rodrigues Island off the coast of Mauritius.
There have been a number of conspiracy theories about the plane’s disappearance on March 8, 2014. There are those who are saying that Malaysian pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah deliberately crashed the plane into the ocean in a horrific suicide mission, which was denied by his family.
Another theory suggested that the plane went down after a sudden loss of electricity or experiencing a flash fire in its cabin.
Some investigators also pointed out the possibility in July that the plane may have glided and not plunged in its final moments. Fugro project director Paul Kennedy said that if the plane was manned, it could have glided a long way, which is why Flight MH370 veered way off course.
Search will be officially ending soon
Sometime last month, there were reports saying that the search operation for the wreckage of the Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 shall be suspended indefinitely if nothing turns up by December.
However, because of the inclement weather conditions in the southern Hemisphere area where the search for the wreckage of the ill-fated Flight MH370, the team decided to halt everything for the time being until the weather becomes conducive, which would likely begin in October.
The families of the victims of Flight MH370 took the news as a welcome development more than the announcement previously that the search will be suspended indefinitely.
Flight MH370 was laden with 239 passengers onboard during its flight from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia to Beijing in China on March 8, 2014, and most of them were Chinese.
The families of the victims believe that they would not have a complete closure if the wreckage and perhaps the remains of their relatives are still not found.