Barnacles on wing part may help in hunt for MH370

Barnacles on a wing part that washed up on a remote Indian Ocean island could yield new clues to the fate of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 if it is from the plane, experts said today.

The hunt for the Boeing 777, which disappeared on March 8 last year en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people aboard, has focused on the southern Indian Ocean off Australia. No trace of it has so far been found.

Last week a two-metre long wing component called a flaperon, with barnacles encrusted on its surface, was found on the French island of La Reunion, igniting hopes that one of the world’s greatest aviation mysteries could be solved. The part has been confirmed as coming from a Boeing 777.

Technical experts, including from US aerospace giant Boeing, are due to begin from Wednesday examining the debris in France to determine conclusively whether it belonged to the flight.

Scientists said the main information the barnacles would provide was how long the piece had been in the water.

“They might be able to age the barnacles and if the barnacles are older than the crash date that would suggest it was not the wreckage,” said 

Melanie Bishop, associate professor in biological sciences at Sydney’s Macquarie University.