MH370 latest: Families demand to go to Reunion island

Chinese relatives of passengers aboard missing flight MH370 on Friday demanded to be taken to the Indian Ocean island of Reunion, where a wing part was found that the Malaysian government said was from the plane.

Most of those on board the aircraft were Chinese and about 30 family members gathered outside an office building near Beijing's main airport in hopes of meeting Malaysian officials, although none attended.

"Our demand is to go to Reunion island and look for ourselves," said Hu Xiufang, who had three relatives, including her son, on board the plane.

"All the relatives want to go there," she said. "Malaysia is the country responsible and they should obtain the relevant documents."

Malaysia's prime minister said early Thursday that wing wreckage found on the French island was from the plane, though French investigators have stopped short of that, saying only there was a "very high probability" it came from the Boeing 777.

And Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said more objects - aircraft seat cushions and windows - had since been discovered on Reunion, but that any MH370 link "had to be verified by the French authorities".

A French judicial source however said French investigators had not received any new items.

Relative Lu Zhanzhong said that going to the island was the only way to ascertain what was happening.

"We want to go to the island and see the truth," he said. "I want to see if my son's luggage is there."

Zhang Jianyi, who had a daughter and granddaughter on the plane, added: "We will all go there together. That's what international agreements require. And Malaysia is the relevant country to arrange it."

The Malaysia Airlines flight, with 239 people - including 153 Chinese citizens - on board, vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March last year, and authorities said it went down in the southern Indian Ocean.

Many Chinese relatives of MH370 passengers have consistently questioned official accounts and expressed beliefs that their loved ones are alive, perhaps being held at an unknown location, despite the mounting evidence of a fatal crash.

Some of the relatives, including Zhang, wore white T-shirts printed with "we pray for the safe return of MH370".

Relatives also expressed continuing frustration with Malaysian officials.

"The Malaysian government have refused to send anyone to meet us," said Jiang Hui, whose mother was on the flight.

"I don't know what the Malaysian government fears, or what it's trying to cover up." he said.

Relatives later headed for the Malaysian embassy to press their demands for a meeting.

France steps up Reunion island search

France said it would launch new air, land and sea searches from Reunion on Friday in hopes of finding more wreckage from MH370, after Malaysia said a wing part found on the island came from the ill-fated flight.

The find is the first physical clue to solving one of the biggest mysteries in aviation history, 17 months after the aircraft inexplicably veered off course en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

A military plane will begin surveying the area of the Indian Ocean from Friday morning, the French government said in a statement. The search will also be stepped up with foot patrols, helicopters and maritime units, it added.

"Any discovery will be immediately made available to the investigation," said the joint statement by the French ministers of defence, transport and overseas territories.

Separately, local authorities where the first piece of debris was found said they would organise a thorough search starting Monday.

The re-energised hunt for MH370 clues follows Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak's announcement that a two-metre-long (almost seven-foot) wing part discovered on the French island last week was confirmed as from the missing aircraft, the first proof that it met a tragic end 17 months ago.

"It is with a very heavy heart that I must tell you that an international team of experts has conclusively confirmed that the aircraft debris found on Reunion island is indeed from MH370," Najib said Thursday.

The announcement was not universally welcomed by relatives of the 239 people on board the Malaysia Airlines jet, with some expressing scepticism and fresh criticism of officials' handling of the disaster.

'Baffling mystery'

The Boeing 777 disappeared on March 8 last year, sparking the largest search operation in history, now focused on the southern Indian Ocean based on satellite data hinting at the plane's path.

Australian authorities, who are leading the search, expressed renewed confidence that they were looking in the right area.

"The finding of this piece of wing gives us hope that we are searching in the right location, given the tides and currents and drift patterns," Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told Australian television from Malaysia.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott earlier said that "for the first time we might be a little bit closer to solving this baffling mystery."

Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said on Thursday that certain characteristics of the wing part, including its paint, matched MH370 maintenance records.

French prosecutors involved in the analysis have been more cautious, however, saying only that there was a "very high probability" it came from the Boeing 777.

Liow also said more possible MH370 objects -- aircraft seat cushions and windows -- had since been discovered on Reunion, but that any MH370 link "had to be verified by the French authorities."

A French judicial source however said French investigators had not received any new items.

Anger, distrust

Some anguished family members said the first concrete proof of the plane's fate would help bring closure.

"We've had 17 months of nothing... so actually finding something is the first step towards pinpointing where it is," Sara Weeks, the sister of MH370 passenger Paul Weeks, told the Fairfax New Zealand media group.

But some relatives who have consistently criticised Malaysia's handling of the crisis -- particularly in China where most of the passengers were from -- rejected Najib's announcement.

They have accused his government and the airline of a bungled response to the disaster, possible cover-up and insensitive treatment of families, charges that are denied.

Some said they would reject any Malaysian government claims until the plane's black box data and flight recorders were recovered, or bodies were found.

"Where is my husband's body? Have any passengers' belongings been found? No. It's just a piece that they found," said Elaine Chew, whose husband Tan Size Hiang was one of the cabin crew.

"No, this is not closure for me."

Analysts, however, call the find a clear step forward by eliminating theories that plane might have landed somewhere, and confirming the search was roughly on the right track.

But they caution that only by locating a crash site and recovering the black box are authorities likely to help solve the mystery, unless new evidence emerges elsewhere.

It is hoped that more detailed examination in the coming days may indicate how the wing part detached from the aircraft and whether it showed traces of an explosion or fire.

Anger and disbelief at Malaysia's confirmation

Chinese relatives of passengers aboard missing flight MH370 expressed anger and disbelief on Thursday, after Malaysia's prime minister said wreckage found on a French Indian Ocean island was from the plane.

Most of the passengers aboard the flight were Chinese, and around a dozen of their relatives gathered outside the Beijing offices of Malaysia Airlines, with emotions running high.

"I don't believe this latest information about the plane, they have been lying to us from the beginning," said Zhang Yongli, whose daughter was on the plane.

"I know my daughter is out there, but they won't tell us the truth," he added, waving Chinese and Communist Party flags.

No physical evidence had been found until the debris, part of a wing known as a flaperon, washed up on the French territory of Reunion, and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said early Thursday it was from the jet.

China's foreign ministry said his declaration "confirmed the verdict on the Malaysia Airlines accident", expressing "deep grief" for the passengers.

"We ask the Malaysian government to fulfil their promise to continue investigating the reason for the accident," spokeswoman Hua Chunying said.

But many Chinese relatives of MH370 passengers have consistently expressed beliefs that their loved ones are alive, perhaps being held at an unknown location, despite the mounting indications of a fatal crash.

Several of those at the airline office held signs with a picture of an airplane, reading: "It will surely return safely".

Bao Lanfang, whose grandson was on board, told reporters, "Everyone has been lying to us", before collapsing on the floor and crying.

"I will do anything to see him again," the 63-year-old added through her tears. "Just tell me what I need to do, I'll do it."

 

EARLIER STORIES: Malaysia confirms plane debris is from the missing flight

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak confirmed on Thursday that a Boeing 777 wing segment discovered in the Indian Ocean island of Reunion is from the missing Flight MH370, the first real breakthrough in the search for the plane that disappeared 17 months ago.

"Today, 515 days since the plane disappeared, it is with a heavy heart that I must tell you that an international team of experts have conclusively confirmed that the aircraft debris found on Reunion Island is indeed from MH370," Najib said in a televised statement.

MH370 latest: Five key questions answered

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappeared in March last year enroute from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew on board.

Investigators in France ascertained that the barnacle-covered debris, a 2-2.5 metre (6.5-8 feet) wing surface known as a flaperon, belonged to MH370 just days after Malaysia identified it as being part of the same model, a Boeing  777.

The confirmation brings some closure to the relatives of those on board but does not shed any light on what happened to the airliner.

"I would like to assure all those affected by this tragedy that the government of Malaysia is committed to do everything within our means to find out the truth of what happened," Najib said.

The plane piece washed up last Wednesday on Reunion, a volcanic island of 850,000 people that is a full part of France, located in the Indian Ocean near Madagascar.

Reunion is roughly 3,700 km (2,300 miles) from the broad expanse of the southern Indian Ocean off Australia where search efforts have focused, but officials and experts said currents could have carried wreckage that way, thousands of kilometres from where the plane is thought to have crashed.

Malaysia Airlines said in a separate statement that the relatives of passengers and the crew had been informed.

The airline said the discovery was a major breakthrough in resolving the disappearance of MH370.

"We expect and hope that there would be more objects to be found which would be able to help resolve this mystery," it added.

The discovery of the flaperon led to a frantic search for more possible wreckage from the missing plane in the island.  

MH370: What we know and what we don't

Boeing 777 debris found on the island of Reunion, confirmed by Malaysia's leader Thursday to be from missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, proves it crashed in the Indian Ocean. The cause of the disaster however remains unknown.

Below are key things we know, and still don't know, in the mysterious case of MH370.

What we know

-- We know MH370 took off from Kuala Lumpur with 227 passengers and 12 crew at 12:41 am on March 8 last year, climbing out over the South China Sea on a clear night, bound for Beijing.

-- We know the plane was piloted by Zaharie Ahmad Shah, 53, a highly respected airman with 33 years of experience at the state flag carrier. Fariq Abdul Hamid, 27, was his co-pilot.

-- We know that just before MH370 was to pass into Vietnam's air-traffic control region, someone in the cockpit sent the final voice message back to Malaysian controllers: "Good night, Malaysian Three Seven Zero," at 1:19am.

-- We know that around 1:30 am, tracking systems such as the jet's transponder were shut off, yet the plane appeared on military radar until 2:15 am as it turned back over Malaysia and flew out to the Indian Ocean.

-- We know that a wing part found on Reunion more than 16 months after the plane disappeared came from MH370, according to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, citing international investigators on Thursday.

-- We know that the 30-day beacon battery on MH370's flight data recorder was later discovered to have expired more than a year before take-off, raising questions over whether this contributed to the inability of a multi-nation search to find an Indian Ocean crash site.

What we don't know

-- We still have no idea what caused the plane to divert since neither the cockpit crew nor the plane's monitoring systems gave any sign of trouble prior to that, and the weather was clear that night.

-- We don't know whether one of the cockpit crew was involved, considered by many experts to be the most likely explanation. Zaharie was a known supporter of Malaysia's opposition, and it was later found that Fariq had let passengers into the cockpit on an earlier flight, breaching safety rules. But investigators say nothing in either man's background suggests a desire to commit mass murder.

-- We don't know whether a hijack or terror attack was responsible, since there has never been a claim of responsibility by any group or individual.

-- We don't know why the plane's tracking systems were switched off and by whom, an act that Malaysia has said appeared to be "deliberate."

-- We still don't yet know exactly where MH370 went down, although the discovery of the wing part will help confirm the current Indian Ocean search area, meaning we are not much closer to recovering the aircraft's black box and analysing it for clues as to what caused its disappearance.

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