Mozambique debris almost certainly from MH370 - Liow Tiong Lai

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the examination on the debris at the Geoscience Australia and Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) facilities in Canberra, Australia since March 21 had been completed yesterday.

The examination and analysis on the debris was carried out by international experts from the Malaysian ICAO Annex 13 Safety Investigation Team for MH370, ATSB, Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia (DCA) and Boeing, he said.

Liow said the Malaysian ICAO Annex 13 Safety Investigation Team had advised that the dimensions, materials and construction of both parts conformed to the specifications of a Boeing 777 aircraft and the paint and stencilling on both parts matched those used by Malaysia Airlines.

"As such, both parts are consistent with panels from a MAS Boeing 777 aircraft, and almost certainly are from MH370," he said in a statement today.

He said the location where both pieces were discovered in Mozambique was consistent with the drift modelling performed by the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).

Liow in the statement extended Malaysia's appreciation to the Mozambique, South African and Australian authorities for their generous support and assistance in the matter.

The aircraft with 239 people on board disappeared from the radar during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014.

Currently, search efforts are conducted in the southern Indian Ocean where Flight MH370's final flight path was believed to have ended.

A piece of debris, possibly from the 'Inlet Cowling' of an aircraft engine was discovered along the southern coast of South Africa, near the town of Mosselbay on Tuesday.

Liow had said that a team would be dispatched to retrieve the debris in South Africa, and further examination and analysis were required to verify if the debris belonged to MH370.

Today, the Australian Government confirmed that the debris recovered from Mozambique was highly likely to have come from MH370.

Australian Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Darren Chester in a statement which was uploaded at http://minister.infrastructure.gov.au/ said the examination of the two pieces of debris had been completed.