Réunion was predicted to be the likely place any MH370 debris would wash up

When flight MH370 went missing in March last year, Professor Charitha Pattiaratchi at the University of Western Australia used his expertise to predict where any debris from the plane would end up.

The discovery of a piece of the wing of a Boeing 777, found washed up on the shores of Réunion Island late on Wednesday, means that his projections could have been 100 per cent accurate.

Pattiaratchi created a detailed oceanographic map using currents and weather patterns to calculate where any debris would be carried from MH370's predicted resting place in the the Indian Ocean, as seen in the model below:

The red area shows the likely spread of debris distribution between 18-24 months after the crash. Réunion, just off the coast of Madagascar, is exactly within Pattiaratchi's model.

Investigators should be able to determine quickly if the debris is part of MH370 as each part of modern aeroplanes have a unique serial number on them, according to the BBC. The piece has been taken to France, which governs Réunion, for officials to look at.

HT The Guardian

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