CRI听力:Flaperon Officially Identified as from Boeing 777: Malaysian Minister

Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai says French authorities, together with aircraft maker Boeing, the US National Transportation Safety Board and a Malaysian team are looking into whether the debris, known as a flaperon, belongs to MH370.

If the serial number on the flaperon confirms that it is from Flight MH370, it would represent the first physical evidence the plane went down somewhere in the Indian Ocean.

The debris may also be able to provide some indication as to what exactly happened to the flight itself.

Using sophisticated tools, investigators will be able to analyze the flaperon to try to glean more information about the causes of the crash, such as whether its shape corresponds more to a mid-air explosion or a crash into the ocean.

Meanwhile, more metal debris, including what might be an airline hatch, have also been found washed up on Reunion Island.

French authorities, which administer the small island, say its too early to determine what the new debris is.

Questions have been raised about how debris from MH370 could make it all the way to Reunion Island, which is roughly 4-thousand kilometers away from where searchers believe the plane went down on March 8th of last year.

However, Zhang Wei with China Academy of Civil Aviation Science and Technology, says there is a good chance the materials found washed up on Reunion are from MH370.

"In theory, all of the debris from crashed planes can be recovered. The only factor is time itself. The movement of ocean currents follows along certain known principles. The currents flowing in the Indian Ocean could take parts of MH370 along them, eventually washing them up on the island."

Some have been suggesting a detailed search around Reunion Island should be conducted.

However, Zhang Wei notes the Malaysia Airlines flight didn't have enough fuel to make it anywhere near Reunion Island.

The Malaysian government has sent several teams to Reunion to search for more debris and to assist in the investigation in France.

Malaysia's government is also asking for help from aviation authorities in the vicinity of Reunion in the hope of finding more clues to the missing aircraft.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared while on March 8th of last year shortly after taking off on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on-board.

Two thirds of the passengers were Chinese nationals.

Investigators say they believe someone onboard shut off all the plane's external communication devices and identification equipment, then directed the flight into the southern Indian ocean off the west coast of Australia.

Malaysian authorities have refused to say who they suspect may have done this, but have cleared any of the passengers from suspicion.

This has focused most speculation around either the pilot or co-pilot of the flight as being responsible for the flight's disappearance, as only someone with intimate knowledge of a Boeing 777 could have turned off the flight's transponders.

For CRI, I'm Luo Wen.