Plane debris that washed up on Madagascar beach is 'most likely' to have come from the doomed Malaysian flight MH370

The plane debris that washed up on a beach in South Madagascar is "most likely" from the doomed Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, Malaysian authorities have confirmed. The five pieces of debris, which washed ashore, were reportedly handed over to government officials at the Malaysian Ministry of Transport's headquarters in Putrajaya in late November last year to determine whether the pieces were from the particular flight.

The MH370 flight disappeared on March 8, 2014 while flying from Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia, to Beijing. The flight had 227 passengers on board from 15 nations along with 12 Malaysian crew members. Debris of the plane had been found in various islands mainly in Africa. However, the reason for the crash has not yet been ascertained.

Reports state that the debris, which was found at Sandravinany, south Madagascar, was first presented by the relatives of the MH370 victims nearly three months earlier, according to the Daily Mail. The families of the victims were reportedly joined by amateur wreckage hunter Blaine Gibson, who has found over half of the debris recovered of the plane so far. The important pieces were eventually handed to the government, which included a floor panel which still had part of a label attached containing the letters and numbers WPPS61.

Gibson said: "Don Thompson, one of the Independent Group investigating MH370's disappearance, found the actual identification label for the Boeing 777," adding that more debris has washed ashore in the region, however, locals in Madagascar expected a reward in turn. The wreckage hunter had previously stated that "the debris proves two things – that MH370 crashed violently and it almost certainly is in the Southern Indian Ocean." He believes that the main body of the aircraft was probably just outside the search area.

The MH370 Safety Investigation Team released a report recently, which stated that most of the new debris recovered and the panel handed to them belonged to a Boeing 777, "most likely MH370," according to The West Australian. Reports state that Thompson eventually worked out the full suite of characters, which were BAC27WPPS61, very similar to a floorboard label that was found among the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.