Aircraft Part Found On Reunion Island Brings Authorities No Closer To Resolving The Mystery

French authorities have confirmed what Malaysian officials have been saying since July; the flaperon that was found on a beach on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean is in fact part of the Boeing 777 that was operating as Malaysian Airlines flight 777 when it vanished on March 8, 2014.

Paris prosecutors said in a statement that it "is possible today to say with certainty that the flaperon discovered on Reunion island on July 29 came from flight MH370."

But while the discovery of the flaperon would lead most to believe that the airplane did in fact go down in the ocean, and not land in some remote location as some have speculated, it doesn't get any closer to pinpointing the location of the wreckage of the plane, or the remains of the passengers and crew. There were 239 people on board when it dropped off radar after veering sharply off course shortly after its flight began.

The French news service AFP reports that in their statement, French officials said that they had discovered three numbers on the wing part and concluded that one of them was a serial number from the flaperon from that particular 777.

A search for the wreckage of the airplane is continuing in the Indian ocean off the coast of Australia.

(Image from file)

FMI: www.atsb.gov.au, www.bea.aero/en