Is debris on Réunion from missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370?

13076433553_cd6b96772b_b — GULF OF THAILAND (March 11, 2014) Naval Air Crewmen 2nd Class Clayton Wirth, a rescue swimmer assigned to Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 78 aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Kidd (DDG 100), conducts training as the crew supports Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 search and rescue operations. The flight had 227 passengers from 14 nations, mainly China, and 12 crewmembers. According to the Malaysia Airlines website, three Americans, including one infant, were also aboard. (NOTE: The life jacket was not from the lost flight MH370). (U.S. Navy photo/Released)

Airplane wreckage found on the French island of Réunion might be that of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, according to news accounts.

The flight, traveling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, disappeared on March 8, 2014, and despite a massive international search, no remnants have been found. The debris found on Réunion, an island in the Indian Ocean, appears to be from a Boeing 777, the same plane used on Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (MH370).

“We need to verify. We have wreckage found that needs to be further verified before we can further confirm if it belongs to MH370,” CNN quoted Malaysian Minister of Transportation Liow Tiong Lai as saying. “So we have dispatched a team to investigate on these issues and we hope that we can identify it as soon as possible.”

The wreckage could be “a piece of a wing or flap,” CNBC reported. The Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses (BEA), the French equivalent of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), is studying the wreckage.

“I’ve been studying hundreds of photos and speaking to colleagues,” The Telegraph quoted Xavier Tytelman, a former military pilot, as saying. “And we all think it is likely that the wing is that of a Boeing 777 – the same plane as MH370.

“Police in Reunion examining the wreckage say that it looks like it’s been in the water for around a year, which again would fit with MH370,” Tytelman added. “We can’t say for certainty, but we do think there is a chance that this is it.”