MH370: US Body To Help Probe Wreckage Found On Reunion Island

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 1 (Bernama) -- The United States National Transportation Safety Board will also take part in the investigation of the debris believed to be from a Boeing 777 found on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion, according to CNN quoting a source with knowledge of the investigation. The debris was flown from the island to Paris Saturday. The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent federal agency charged by Congress with investigating every civil aviation accident in the United States and significant accidents in other modes of transportation – railroad, highway, marine and pipeline. The NTSB is one of the seven accredited representatives of international air accident and incident investigation organisations involved in the international investigation team set up by Malaysia in the quest to get to the bottom of what happened to Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH370. A source close to the French investigation told CNN that a preliminary report could come as early as next week. "The report won't give 'an exact sequence of events', but will at least eliminate some scenarios," according to CNN quoting the source. On Wednesday, several images of a wreckage believed to be the flap of a Boeing 777 on social media gave new hope in the search for the missing MH370 aircraft. Airlive.net, a website on aviation industry news and information, tweeted a picture of a wreckage and uploaded the status "Broken piece of wing found on La Réunion Island could that be the flap of #MH370? Flight MH370 vanished from the radar at about midnight on March 8 last year while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew. Boeing had said that it is sending experts to France. Meanwhile, according to an AFP report Saturday, French officials said analysis of the wing part would begin on Wednesday, along with an examination of parts of a recovered suitcase. -- BERNAMA