MH370: debris ‘almost certainly’ from Malaysia Airlines 777

The Transport Safety Bureau has released findings of a forensic examination of what appears to be Boeing 777 wreckage.

Mozambique's Civil Aviation Institute president Joao de Abreu with a piece of wreckage now confirmed to be from the missing flight MH370.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has confirmed that two pieces of plane debris discovered in South Africa and Mauritius were from missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.

The ATSB has released findings of a forensic examination of what appears to be wreckage from a Boeing 777 and concluded that the piece of engine cowling and a panel segment from a main cabin were “almost certainly” from the missing plane.

The two pieces of debris were found on March 22 and March 30 on beaches at Mossel Bay, South Africa, and Rod­rigues ­Island in Mauritius.

The engine cowling, identi­fied from a partial Rolls-Royce stencil, had the same panel thickness, materials and construction for other 777 engine cowlings used by Malay­sia ­Airlines. The panel segment was identified by the decorative laminate used on interior panels in other 777 main cabins.

While there were no identifiers on the engine cowling unique to the missing MH370 flight, the Rolls-Royce stencil font and ­detail was consistent with those used by Malaysian Airlines.

It also closely matched ­stencils used on other Malaysian Airlines 777 aircraft, the ATSB said.

The report found that the ­location of a piano hinge on the part surface was consistent with a work-table support leg usually attached by Malaysian Airlines.

“There were no identifiers on the panel segment that were unique to (MH370), however the pattern, colour and texture of the laminate was only specified by Malysia Airlines for use on ­Boeing 747 and 777 aircraft,” the report said.

“There is no record of the laminate being used by any other Boeing 777 customer.”

Five pieces of wreckage from the plane have been found in ­Indian Ocean sites since it vanished with 239 people on board on March 8, 2014 while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

The ATSB-led ocean search is in its final phase, with less than 15,000sq km of deep sea bed to be scanned. Some 105,000sq km have already been searched but no trace of the Boeing 777 has been found.

“The Australia government will continue to work closely with the Malaysian government and the People’s Republic of China in our efforts to locate the missing aircraft,” said Transport Minister Darren Chester.

“We remain hopeful the ­aircraft will be found.”

The search — which has cost Australian taxpayers about $90 million — is expected to cease by the end of June if no fresh clues are found.