Shortly after the sighting of the first piece of debris, a
flaperon on La Reunion in 2015, GEOMAR scientists started to simulate its possible drift in the hope of narrowing down the area of the possible crash site.
Examination revealed three of the four hinges connecting the right
flaperon hanger rib had come loose.
To date, only three (the
flaperon, a part of the right outboard flap and a section of the left outboard flap) out of 27 debris found have been confirmed to be from MH370 with wreckages found as far north as the eastern coast of Tanzania and as far south as the eastern coast of South Africa.
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) conducted tests using a
flaperon - the tailplane component which washed ashore on the island of RA[c]union - to see how it moved in open water subject to wind and ocean currents.
The eroA[degrees] sion was caused by a part of the plane's wing -- called a
flaperon -- being exposed to the elements when it was extended.
So far only that piece, known as a
flaperon, has been confirmed to belong to the missing plane.
But no trace of the missing Boeing 777 has been found except for a wing part, known as a
flaperon, which surfaced on Reunion island off Madagascar last July.
Developments in the MH370 case continued in July after a
flaperon confirmed to be from the flight was found on Ile de la Reunion, a French island in the Indian Ocean.
They are under scrutiny again after Indian Ocean currents deposited the "
flaperon" from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight into the hands of judges investigating the suspected manslaughter of four French citizens out of 239 people on board.