Australian experts called in by France to examine Boeing 777 debris

Deputy Prime Minister of Australia Warren Truss revealed on Wednesday that France has sought help from Australia to examine the washed up debris discovered on the Reunion Island last week.

Truss said in a statement that Australia has been asked by the French judiciary to send an expert from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau or ATSB to Tolouse to partake in the examination of the Boeing 777 flapron that was discovered on the isolated island. The discovery is being regarded as the biggest breakthrough in one of the darkest mysteries of aerial disasters.

The Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370, a Boeing 777, went missing en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew on board in March last year. The wreckage found on the Reunion Island has given hope to the investigators probing the disappearance to find a possible explanation to what could have happened to the aeroplane.

According to the SkyNews, the case containing the broken flapron will be opened on Wednesday for experts to examine the debris. Apart from French and Malaysian experts and Boeing employees, representatives from China, the country that lost most passengers, will be present at the time of opening the case. According to a source who did not wish to be named, it is still unclear whether the conclusions will be announced today or later.

Jean-Paul Troadec, the former head of France's BEA agency that investigates aerial accidents, said that the examination will mainly focus on two aspects: first whether the flapron actually belongs to the MH370 and if it does, what it can say about the final moments of the plane. He also pointed out that the paint on the debris indicates that it belongs to a Boeing 777. “Every airline paints their planes in a certain way ... and if the paint used is used by Malaysia Airlines and other companies, there may be more certainty,” he said.

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