Probe of suspected MH370 plane part begins in France

The Malaysia Airlines jet disappeared on March 8 last year, inexplicably veering off course en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board, sparking a colossal but ultimately fruitless multinational hunt for the aircraft.

But last week’s discovery of a two-metre-long (almost seven-foot) wing part called a flaperon on the French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion raised fresh hopes for relatives desperate for answers.

French and Malaysian experts including Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, the head of the Asian country’s civil aviation watchdog, arrived at a laboratory in the southern French city of Toulouse on Wednesday for the tests.

A judicial source said the examination of the wing part began shortly afterwards.

French, Malaysian and Australian experts, Boeing employees and representatives from China –the 

<g data-gr-id="23">country</g> that lost the most passengers in the disaster –were all due to be present.

A source close to the case said a full probe of the wing part would “likely take at least a few days.