The search for answers about the fate of a missing Malaysian jetliner is focused on a little-known French island in the Indian Ocean.
French authorities will determine whether debris found on Reunion Island — more than 2,000 miles from the search zone — is linked to Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.
Investigators are increasingly confident the debris came from a Boeing 777, the same type of aircraft that disappeared after leaving Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for Beijing on March 8 last year.
Work to conclusively identify the piece of wreckage will begin this week, French prosecutors said. The debris was transferred to Toulouse, France, on Saturday for analysis.
In addition to local officials, experts from Boeing and the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board will also join the probe in France.
Key questions
If confirmed, the wreckage would be the first bit of physical evidence recovered from MH370. It could help resolve key questions on the fate of the aircraft, which vanished last year with 239 people on board.
To experts, it looks a lot like a flaperon, part of an aircraft’s wing that helps control its speed and banking angle.
Boeing investigators said they are confident the debris is from a 777 aircraft, according to a source close to the investigation.
Investigators are basing their observation on photos and a stenciled number that corresponds to a 777 component, the source said.
Boeing engineers have seen a part number — 10-60754-1133 — in photos of the component, a source told CNN.
A Boeing parts supplier confirmed the number was on a seal associated with the Boeing 777, the source said. A component number is not the same as a part number, which is generally much longer.
The part “most certainly belongs to a Boeing 777,” said Abdul Aziz Kaprawi, Malaysia’s deputy minister of transport.
But he didn’t draw any more direct connection between the part and the missing flight.
Martin Dolan, the head of the Australian agency coordinating the underwater search for the plane, said he is “increasingly confident but not yet certain” that the debris is from MH370.
More debris
Teams in Reunion are scouring the stretch of coast where the debris was found.
New debris washed ashore Thursday and appears to resemble remnants of a suitcase, local police officials said.
The French General Directorate of Armament, which is analyzing the debris, has sophisticated equipment and expertise to quickly identify the plane the debris belongs to and what happened to it, a source told CNN.
That analysis will begin Wednesday, the Paris prosecutor’s office said.
Malaysia, which is responsible for the overall investigation into MH370’s disappearance, is sending teams of aviation officials to Toulouse, where investigators will analyze it.
Authorities have so far been unable to establish why Flight 370 flew sharply off its route from Kuala Lumpur and disappeared.
A preliminary assessment by U.S. intelligence agencies suggested someone in the cockpit deliberately caused the aircraft’s movements before the Malaysian airliner disappeared.