Possible Connection of Parts Found in Mozambique to Missing Malaysian Airplane

On Wednesday, March 3, the Malaysian Transport Minister announced that parts of a Boeing 777 airplane have been found near the shores of Mozambique that are "most likely" related to the Malaysian passenger plane that disappeared from radar screens two years ago. Flight MH370 of Malaysia Airlines, with flight number 370, disappeared from radar less than an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, the capital of China, with 239 passengers on board; two of the passengers were Iranian. For a long time, one of the largest search operations in history was underway, involving dozens of countries and both military and non-military ships, aircraft, and satellites, in hopes of finding any trace of this airplane and its passengers. According to AFP, "Liu Tiong Lai," the Malaysian Transport Minister, stated that the parts found on the Mozambique coast belong to a Boeing 777 of the same model as the missing aircraft. These parts, which are likely related to the aircraft's horizontal stabilizers, are set to be transferred to Australia for further investigation. If these parts are confirmed to belong to the missing aircraft, this will be the second set of parts found along the East African coast between Mozambique and Madagascar. In July, a man found parts of the wing of the missing MH370 flight on Reunion Island, one of the French islands in the Indian Ocean. The locations where these parts have been found are very far from the main flight path of this aircraft. Malaysian officials believe that after the aircraft disappeared from radar, it took a new course and continued to fly for hours in a controlled manner.