MH370 Air pressure, ocean current and the winds, blowing either eastward or westward, brought a flaperon and other debris from a Boeing 777 to the shores of Reunion Island, according to an aviation expert.

Prof Dr Mohd Harridon Mohamed Suffian, head of research and innovation of Universiti Kuala Lumpur, said the air pressure at that particular region of the Indian Ocean had caused the waves to move either eastward or westward.

“So objects or debris that have a high buoyancy will be pushed by the sea current to cardinal points on either side. In this case, the closest possible locations are around Madagascar and African countries fronting the Indian Ocean.

“Those objects that have the features to float will be directed eastward or westward following the Indian Ocean current,” he explained to Bernama .

“The air pressure, the ocean current and the wind direction move the objects and determine where they are headed.”

“Reunion Island is situated within a radius close to the suspected crash site in the Indian Ocean. This makes it almost certain for wreckage of an aircraft which ended there to be swept to the island,” Harridon said.

The French island is located off the coast of Madagascar about 4,000km from the MH370 crash search site.

Harridon said that it was almost impossible for the wreckage of an entire plane to be swept to land.

“The whole wreckage would be submerged in the ocean. Only some parts... debris like the flaperon and flap and other objects with high buoyancy torn from the plane would be washed ashore,” he added.

The flaperon, which has been confirmed to be from a Boeing 777, was brought to Toulouse in France to determine whether it is from Flight MH370.

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.

- Bernama