Cabin fragment and Rolls Royce piece found in South Africa and Mauritius ‘almost certainly’ from MH370

DEBRIS found in South Africa and Mauritius, including a cabin fragment, is from missing Flight MH370, investigators confirmed today.

The ATSB have confirmed the work of MH370 sleuths in matching this cabin piece with a folding table

TWO pieces of debris that washed up in South Africa and Mauritius are indeed from missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau said today.

One of the fragments, part of a folding table from the plane’s cabin, is the first interior piece to be recovered from the Boeing 777, which vanished on March 8, 2014 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.

A Reunion couple holidaying in Mauritius found the cabin piece on March 30 as they strolled along a beach.

The other fragment, which features part of the Rolls Royce logo from an engine cowling, was found by archeologist Neels Kruger near a lagoon in Mossel Bay in South Africa’s Western Cape province on March 22.

In a statement released this morning, the ATSB again concludes that both pieces (referred to as Part 3 and Part 4 in the report) are “almost certainly from MH370”.

Comparison of Boeing 777 engine cowling stencils. Note the thickness of the ‘ROYCE’ lettering and the serif geometry on the main ‘Rs’. Picture: Malaysian MOT/ATSB

Comparison of recovered item with Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 Door R1 panel assembly. Picture: Malaysian MOT/ATSB

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It follows confirmation that two other pieces of wreckage (known as Part 1 and Part 2) that washed up on the Mozambique coast, including a flap track fairing segment found by South African teen Liam Lotter on December 27 and American adventurer Blaine Gibson’s “No Step” piece found on February 27, were from MH370.

Minutes after releasing the report, the ATSB came under fire on social media for failing to include details about the apparent lack of biofouling on the pieces, although it said tests were ongoing.

ATSB report indicates 4th @ 5th suspected #MH370 debris pieces are indeed from the aircraft. No word on biofouling https://t.co/qihGNDT9Cq

— Jeff Wise (@ManvBrain) May 12, 2016

@ManvBrain Pattern continues: Debris is declared to be from #MH370, timing and location declared to match drift models, and no other info.

— Victor Iannello (@RadiantPhysics) May 12, 2016

“At the time of writing, work was ongoing with respect to the marine ecology samples,” the report said in conclusion.

“The results from these tests will be provided to the Malaysian investigation team once complete. In terms of the identification of the two items of debris, it was concluded that:

Part No. 3 was a Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 engine cowling segment, almost certainly from the aircraft registered 9M-MRO.

“Part No. 4 was a Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 panel segment from the main cabin, associated with the Door R1 closet, almost certainly from the aircraft registered 9M-MRO.”

The search for MH370 in the southern Indian Ocean is due to end in the first week of July.

The four fragments and a flaperon found on Reunion last year are the only piece of the missing plane to have been recovered to date.