Investigators have determined that debris found last week in Thailand isn’t part of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which disappeared nearly two years ago with 239 people aboard.
Thai experts examined the debris and ascertained that the numbers engraved on the body, the wire bundle and the bolts do not match those of a Boeing 777, Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said in a statement.
Japanese rocket maker Mitsubishi Heavy Industries said Monday that it’s “highly likely” the metal piece is part of a Japanese H-IIA or H-IIB rocket that was launched from southern Japan.
Flight 370 took off from Kuala Lumpur on March 8, 2014, headed to Beijing, but disappeared after turning back toward Malaysia.
The search, which has cost more than $120 million so far, is led by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau in coordination with Malaysia and China. It focusses on the Indian Ocean about 1,000 miles west of Perth. Ships dragging sonar equipment have scanned nearly 30,000 square miles of ocean floor.
A piece of the plane’s wing was found in July 2015 off the coast of Reunion island near Africa, about 3,000 miles from Thailand. French analysts confirmed it matched the plane parts and could have reached the island from the suspected crash site because of ocean currents.
