Plane Wreckage Found Off Coast of French Island in Indian Ocean

A fragment of an unknown aircraft was found near French island La Réunion in the Indian Ocean, local media reported.

The discovered three-meter piece is assumed to be the tail of a passenger liner. The item was covered with lots of seashells, which means that it had been in the water for a long time, the newspaper wrote.

Gendarmerie of French Civil Aviation will determine which aircraft the found fragments belonged to. The wreckage was transferred to the island’s airport for a detailed examination.

As for now, experts have suggested two versions: either it could be part of the Malaysian Boeing that disappeared in March 2014, or it could be the wreckage of the twin-engine aircraft Piper PA-23 that crashed off the coast of La Réunion in 2006. The wreckage of both aircraft has not been found yet.

The Boeing-777, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, disappeared from radar screens on March 8, 2014 with 12 crew members and 227 passengers on board. At the end of January 2015, they were officially confirmed dead.

La Réunion is an island in East Africa east off Madagascar. With over 800 thousand residents, it has the status as one of France’s overseas territories.