Canberra - Another piece of aircraft debris found in Mauritius has been determined to be from missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, Australian authorities confirmed on Friday.
A piece of the outboard flap from a Boeing 777 jet - the same type as MH370 - washed up on the island in May this year, and was brought to Australia for inspection by authorities.
The Joint Agency Co-ordination Centre (JACC) confirmed the piece is in fact from MH370, which went missing on March 8, 2014 with 239 passengers and crew on board.
"The item profile was consistent with the trailing edge of an aircraft wing. The item was subsequently collected by a member of the Malaysian investigation team and hand-delivered to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau for identification," the JACC statement, released on Friday, said.
"A part number was identified on a section of the debris, identifying it as a trailing edge splice strap, incorporated into the rear spar assembly of a Boeing 777 left outboard flap.
"Adjacent to the part number was a part identifier, similar to those found on the right outboard flap section.
"The flap manufacturer supplied records indicating that this identifier was a unique work order number and that the referred part was incorporated into the outboard flap shipset line number 404 which corresponded to the Boeing 777 aircraft line number 404, registered 9M-MRO and operating as MH370."
In conclusion, the JACC said the part was a "trailing edge section of Boeing 777 left, outboard flap, originating from the Malaysia Airlines aircraft."
MH370 was a scheduled passenger flight from Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing, and is thought to have crashed into the southern Indian Ocean. The Australian-led ocean search for the missing jetliner is due to conclude by the end of the year.
Xinhua