Experts say it's 'plausible' currents carried MH370 fragment thousands of miles to Reunion Island

Investigators still don't know if the piece of airplane wreckage found on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean is from missing Malaysia Airline Flight 370, but experts say that the way the ocean's currents work, it's entirely 'plausible.'

"It depends on where it went in, but it's about the right time for debris to wash up," oceanographer Robin Robertson told Reuters. Reunion Island is 4,000 miles from MH370's last known position before it vanished in March 2014 with 239 people onboard, but it's also in the Indian Ocean gyre, a major spiral of currents driven by surface winds. Currents rarely move in a straight line, and can reach speeds of more than 2.2 miles per hour, or 300 miles a week.

The Joint Agency Coordination Centre, an Australian agency working with Malaysia on the search, said the spot where the fragment was found is "consistent with other analysis and modeling that the resting place of the aircraft is in the southern Indian Ocean." Sources told NBC News that Boeing Corp. investigators believe the fragment is from a 777, and MH370 is currently the only missing 777 in the world. Investigators will look closely for any distinctive markings, and can even glean clues from the barnacles and shells that are now on the surface; by determining how old the sea life is, they can figure out when the jet debris entered the water.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up