Missing MH370: Mozambique debris 'almost certainly' from doomed plane

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, March 24 (UPI) -- Australian officials on Thursday said debris recovered from Mozambique nearly a month ago "almost certainly" came from missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

The debris was found late February on a sandbank in the Mozambique Channel, in the same region of the Pacific Ocean where the only other confirmed piece of debris from Flight 370 was found on Reunion Island last year.

"The analysis has concluded the debris is almost certainly from MH370," Australian Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Darren Chester said in a statement. "That such debris has been found on the east coast of Africa is consistent with drift modelling performed by [the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization] and further affirms our search efforts in the southern Indian Ocean."

MH370 disappeared March 8, 2014, after leaving Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia en route to Beijing with 227 passengers and 12 crew members on board. The pilots last communicated with air traffic control 38 minutes after takeoff. Three minutes later, the plane's transponders were turned off and the plane disappeared from air traffic controllers' radar screens.

Military radar continued to track the Boeing 777 as it made a sharp turn to the southwest, crossing back over the Malay Peninsula, and then turned again to head northwest. Malaysian authorities concluded the flight had ended in the Indian Ocean, but no debris was found until last year when a right wing flaperon was discovered on Reunion Island, east of Madagascar. It was confirmed to be from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

"The search for MH370 continues. There are 25,000 square kilometers [15,500 square miles] of the underwater search area still to be searched. We are focused on completing this task and remain hopeful the aircraft will be found," Chester added.