If fragments of burnt debris recently found on a Madagascan beach is identified as being from MH370, it could prove that a fire may have occurred onboard, creating new scenarios for the plane's disappearance, reports UK daily The Guardian.

It may also deflect the widely speculated possibility that the pilot intentionally crashed the jet into the ocean.

The debris was discovered by self-funded independent investigator Blaine Gibson, who has been hunting the wreckage of the plane for the last year or so, having previously found other parts that were confirmed to be from the missing Malaysian Airlines flight.

“If they are confirmed as MH370 and if the fire was before the crash, this is significant evidence of what caused the plane’s demise,” the paper quoted Gibson as saying.

Gibson was in Australia to meet with the Australian Transport and Safety Bureau (ATSB) in Canberra this week, to hand in the new find.

Though the publication quoted Gibson saying that it was too early to draw firm conclusions as the parts, found by a local fisherman in southeast Madagascar, near Sainte-Luce, could have been burned after the crash once they had washed ashore.

Also they have not been confirmed to be from the missing flight.

“We don’t know yet if it is from MH370. I think it is,” he reportedly said.

According to The Guardian, Gibson, described the items as shattered composite panels with hexagonal honeycombing inside. Both had evidence of blackened singeing and burning to off-white paint on both sides.

He said he believed the parts were likely to be from an internal section of the plane, such as the cabin or cargo area, rather than a structural piece involved in flying, such as the wing.

The ATSB confirmed that Gibson handed over the new finds on Monday and the agency was seeking advice from Malaysian authorities, who are officially in charge of the investigation, on how to proceed.

The Malaysian department of civil aviation said in a statement published in local media on Tuesday that any debris found would be analysed and examined in Canberra.

The ATSB has previously analysed several pieces of debris and concluded that four of them were “almost certainly” from the missing plane. It is currently investigating a suspected wing flap that was found on Pemba island, Zanzibar, in June, but has not yet released its findings.

A joint deep-sea sonar search operation is in its last legs this year as the decision was made to stop the search, if the current search area of 120,000 sq km (46,000 sq miles) in the southern Indian ocean, does not uncover the aircraft.

In July last year, a flaperon was found on Réunion Island off the coast of Madagascar. It was the first piece to be formally identified as being from the Boeing 777, which went off radar in March 2014.