Malaysian Government Makes Official Announcement

Representatives from the Malaysian government went on television Wednesday morning and announced that the debris that had been found on a beach on Reunion Island had been positively identified as being from MH370.

The plane disappeared March 8, 2014.

Reuters reports that, in an early-morning televised address, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak (pictured) said that "an international team of experts have conclusively confirmed that the aircraft debris found on Reunion Island is indeed from MH370. I would like to assure all those affected by this tragedy that the government of Malaysia is committed to do everything within our means to find out the truth of what happened."

The piece of a flaperon now confirmed to be from the MH370 Boeing 777 is the first direct evidence that the plane went down in the ocean, but does not give any indication as to why it happened, or where the main wreckage may lie.

While Malaysian authorities have confirmed that the debris is from the missing airplane, French authorities examining the flaperon have not be so definitive. While they stopped short of saying it was certain that the flaperon was from the airplane, they did say that there was a "very strong likelihood" that it had come from the 777.

Analysts say there is a lot that can be learned from the piece of debris. John Goglia, a former member of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, told Reuters that clues can be found in the way the metal is deformed and how brackets may have broken. "From that they can tell the direction and attitude of the airplane when it hit," he said.

The debris is being examined at a test facility operated by the French military in Balma, a suburb of Toulouse.

(Image from Facebook)

FMI: www.facebook.com/najibrazak