ST DENIS, Reunion — Plane debris which washed up on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion and is thought to belong to the vanished Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 was flown to France on Friday for checks officials hope could provide some insight into the disaster.
Discovery of the debris, which may finally confirm the plane crashed into the sea after veering off course from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew, could help end 16 months of lingering uncertainty for relatives.
Experts hope the barnacled 6.5-8 feet long wing surface known as a flaperon and a fragment of luggage could yield forensic clues to the fate of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which vanished without trace in March 2014.
A Malaysian official and aviation experts say it is almost certainly part of a Boeing 777. But relatives, officials, the airline and governments must await the result of tests.
The Air France flight is due to arrive in Paris early on Saturday and the debris, which may have stayed afloat because of air pockets in the structure, will then be delivered to a military unit near the southwest city of Toulouse specialized in analyzing aviation wreckage.
The office of the prosecutor general in Paris said official examination of the debris, involving French and Malaysian judicial authorities, was to start only on Wednesday.
A fragment of luggage that was also found in the area is being flown into France with the aircraft debris and will be sent to a unit outside Paris that specializes in DNA tests.