SYDNEY—The Australian agency leading the search for Malaysia
Airlines Flight 370 said a piece of plane debris that washed ashore
on an island near Madagascar on Wednesday could have traveled
thousands of miles from the suspected crash site, based on its
analysis of ocean currents.
Martin Dolan, chief commissioner of the Australian Transport
Safety Bureau said French investigators would initially examine the
piece of airplane debris, with input from Australia, Malaysia and
manufacturers, including Boeing Co.
Flight 370, a Boeing 777, disappeared on March 8 last year with
239 people on board. Search teams have failed to find any trace of
the aircraft in a 23,200-square-mile zone in the southern Indian
Ocean off the coast of Western Australia where it is believed the
plane crashed.
"We've done quite a bit of drift modeling about where floating
debris would drift to. It's not a precise science but certainly
this is not inconsistent with the drift modeling we've done," Mr.
Dolan said.
Write to Rachel Pannett at rachel.pannett@wsj.com
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