MH370 Floor Panel 'Likely' Washed Up On Madagascar Along With Other Debris

A new clue into the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 emerged, after authorities confirmed debris that washed up on the shores of Madagascar as "most likely" that belonged to the missing jetliner. Five pieces of debris were handed over to government officials at the Malaysian Ministry of Transport's headquarters in Putrajaya in late November.

Malaysian authorities described wreckage as plane debris, and one of the pieces — a floor panel — that had a label still attached to it, according to the West Australian.

“Don Thompson, one of the Independent Group investigating MH370’s disappearance, found the actual identification label for the Boeing 777,” Mr. wreck hunter Blaine Gibson. The floor panel debris contained a portion of a placard with the identifying characters WPPS61.

According to another IG member, Victor Iannello, Thompson was able to determine that the full placard number was BAC27WPPS61 — similar to the floorboard of wreckage from MH17, a Malaysia Airlines jet that was shot down over eastern Ukraine while flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur in 2014.

Gibson told local media that several residents of Madagascar told him that "there are many more pieces of debris washed up, but Malaysia has to offer rewards, if it wants more nformation.”

Flight MH370 went missing on March 8, 2014, with 239 people on board while on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. A multimillion dollar search for the plane that went on for nearly four years yielded no concrete clues, as to the plane's whereabouts and mysterious disappearance. The biggest lead in the investigation came when a plane flaperon was found by villagers in the French island of Réunion. Possible pieces of wreckage had also turned up on the shorelines of Africa, Mozambique and Mauritius investigators said. Another report said 27 pieces of wreckage found were believed to be from MH370, though only three were confirmed as parts that actually belonged to the doomed jetliner.

In July last year, Malaysia released a report saying investigators failed to determine what happened to Flight MH370. The 449-page report stated Flight MH370 deviated from its path "not because of anomalies in the mechanical system. The turn back was made not under autopilot but under manual control.” However, it added that a “third-party interference” couldn’t be ruled out.

Since the plane went missing, several conspiracy theorists tried to unravel the mystery. Several independent searchers have tried locating the missing plane, with some relying on Google Earth images to pinpoint the final resting place of the Boeing 777-200.

The most recent theory claimed that the pilots made desperate attempts to land the plane in Malaysia while the jet was on fire. Ross Aimer, CEO of Aero Consulting Experts, believes the MH370 pilots flew the plane off course in an attempt to come down at a Malaysian airport after they realized something was wrong with the airline. It is believed that a fire broke out due to overheating of batteries on board the plane.

Another "unconfirmed" theory claimed MH370 was likely hijacked so that the organs of passengers on board the plane could be harvested.