Several pieces of debris found in Madagascar, believed to be parts from an aircraft, were handed over to the Malaysian ICAO Annex 13 Safety Investigation Team for MH370, yesterday.

The Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) in a statement today said the items handed over by an American, Blaine Gibson, included a stabiliser panel with 'No Step' stencil, an engine cowling bearing the Rolls-Royce logo, and a fiberglass skin aluminium honeycomb cored panel.

"The debris will be sent for examination and analysis to determine if they originated from flight MH370," said the DCA.

Flight MH370, carrying 239 passengers and crew, disappeared from radar shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur enroute to Beijing on March 8, 2014.

The jetliner has yet to be found despite massive search operations in the southern Indian Ocean, where the aircraft was believed to have ended its flight after diverting from its original route.

The Malaysian ICAO Annex 13 Safety Investigation Team for MH370 was established to investigate the disappearance of the jetliner.

The team comprises 19 Malaysians and seven accredited representatives of seven safety authorities from seven countries.

DCA in the statement stressed, "it is important to note that at this juncture, it has not been confirmed whether any of the debris came from MH370.

"It is therefore crucial for verification of these pieces to be conducted by the experts," it said.

DCA said the police at the same time had taken possession of personal effects collected by Gibson from the same location for examination.

"DCA wishes to express our gratitude to Mr Blaine Gibson for highlighting the discoveries and his cooperation in this matter.

"We wish to also urge anyone who has discovered any debris or personal effects that might be related to MH370 to hand them over to relevant authorities in their respective countries," it said.

DCA said it would provide an update as and when new information became available.

- Bernama