Suspected MH370 'plane debris' washed up on Thailand beach
A piece of suspected plane wreckage has been found on a beach in southern Thailand, prompting speculation it might belong to the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, MailOnline reported.
The large piece of curved metal washed ashore in Nakhon Si Thammarat province, according to a local official.
Villagers discovered the piece of metal and reported it to the authorities to help identify it, said Tanyapat Patthikongpan, head of Pak Phanang district.
'Villagers found the wreckage, measuring about 2metres wide and 3metres long (6.6 by 9.8 feet),' he said.
The find has sparked speculation in the Thai media that the debris could belong to MH370, which disappeared with 239 people on board during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March 2014.
There has been no official confirmation that the wreckage belongs to a plane.
The barnacle-covered piece of metal has some identifying features, which should help narrow down whether or not it came from a plane.
The number ‘323’ is printed near its ragged edge, as pointed out by the villagers. Elsewhere, the numbers ‘307’ and ‘308’ are printed.
On the reverse side of the shard, a red wire can be seen dangling over what appears to be a serial number ‘SG5773-1’.
The edges of the piece of metal appear to reveal a 'honeycomb' structure, which is widely used in aircraft and rockets due to its light weight.
According to Patthikongpan, local fishermen said it could have been under the sea for no more than a year, judging by the barnacles on it.
Investigators believe someone may have deliberately switched off MH370's transponder before diverting it thousands of miles off course.
Most of those on board the fated flight were Chinese. Beijing said it was following developments closely.
Lingering uncertainty surrounding the fate of the plane has tormented the families of those on board. Some have said even the discovery of debris would still not solve the mystery.
It is the second wave of speculation about the missing passenger jet this month, after search teams mistook a 200-year-old shipwreck in the Indian Ocean for the plane wreckage.
The Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC), based in western Australia, located the large metal object, which looked eerily similar to the fuselage of a plane, using an underwater sonar vessel.
The search for the plane is due to end in June this year, despite the Chinese relatives pleading for it to be expanded.
Elsewhere, French prosecutors confirmed ‘with certainty’ in September that a wing part found on a remote Indian Ocean island was from missing flight MH370.
Tests were carried out on the flaperon, which was found on La Reunion in July, by the French body responsible for civil aviation accident investigations.
At the time of the discovery on the French territory last month, Malaysian officials said it was 'almost certain' the wing flap came from a Boeing 777 – the same model as the Malaysian airlines jet.
The 6ft-long wing flap washed up 3,500 miles from the doomed jet's last-known location, fuelling hopes across the world that one of aviation's greatest mysteries could finally be solved.
Some families have previously said that they do not necessarily believe their family members have died. Rather, they said, they believed the passengers were being held prisoner somewhere for an unknown reason.
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