MH370 search: Malaysian experts on way to island to study plane debris – as it happened

The loss of communication and bizarre flight path of MH370 led a US intelligence assesment and many aviation experts to speculate that the plane was deliberately steered off course.
However, mechanical failure remains a strong possibility.
So while the discovery of the debris provides a significant clue, much is still to be determined. Given the time that has passed since the crash, it will be a massive undertaking for investigators to determine why this tragic and mysterious event took place.
Now that we know that the plane part “almost certainly” came from MH370, investigators will spend Friday attempting to confirm that is the case, and piece together any conclusions that can be reached from the fact that it washed up on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean, 2,300 miles from where the search had been focused.A team of Malaysian investigators will arrive on the island Friday morning, and the piece of debris will be taken to a laboratory in France.
The discovery does not necessarily mean the crash site will be found any time soon.
“This wreckage has been in the water – if it is MH370 – for well over a year so it could have moved so far that it’s not going to be that helpful in pinpointing precisely where the aircraft is,” an Australian official said.