Complex and frustrating

Contrails understands that Malaysia wanted the flaperon sent to Kuala Lumpur but this was rebuffed by France, which took it to Toulouse for an international team to inspect.

On initial inspection in France Malaysian representatives recognised one the airline’s maintenance seals and advised its government accordingly.

Having been stung by criticism for withholding information, Malaysia’s Prime Minister M Najib Razak confirmed in the early hours of August 6 that the flaperon was from MH 370.

“Today, 515 days since the plane disappeared, it is with a very heavy heart that I must tell you that an international team of experts has conclusively confirmed that the aircraft debris found on Reunion Island is indeed from MH370,” Najib said. “The burden and uncertainty faced by the families” in the 515 days since the aircraft disappeared had been “unspeakable”. “We now have physical evidence that flight MH370 tragically ended in the southern Indian Ocean,” he added.

But that international chorus of agreement excluded France, which said it wasn’t 100 per cent convinced about the maintenance seal as there were some discrepancies, and the other parties would not be drawn.

The Malaysians say those discrepancies are minor.

The problem is that the usual ID plate that is bonded on to the exterior of the flaperon with the airline number has come away after 14 months in the ocean and the other conclusive ID marks are inside the flaperon which requires pulling it apart.

Complicating matters the French had launched a criminal investigation months ago, because four French nationals were on MH370.

And this is the twist. According to The Wall Street Journal French officials said the Malaysians have not handed over information, including files from Malaysia’s own criminal investigation and satellite data used to identify where the jet may have crashed.

To confirm absolutely that the flaperon is from Flight 370, the international experts will have to examine interior parts that make up the flaperon, locate serial numbers, and match them.

However, the French want to examine the marine life that has attached itself to the flaperon first before pulling it apart and this may take weeks.

The burden and uncertainty faced by the families had been unspeakable.

A former crash investigator living in France told Contrails that “tragically this is payback”.

The recently-retired investigator said the Malaysians “are correct in their identification” and the whole process is tangled up in the French judicial system with a dash of politics thrown in.

“This is complex and frustrating for the poor relatives and the Malaysians are being blamed which just isn’t right,” said the former investigator. “The Malaysians are being accused of withholding information but when they get proactive and confirm what they absolutely know they are criticised for jumping the gun – they can’t win. ” Whatever the reasons, payback or not, it does not take weeks to identify a part such as a flaperon, it takes days and there can be absolutely no arguments about that.

Politics and payback, if that is what it is, has no place when the torment of the relatives left behind is at stake.

These poor people have endured unbearable heartache and the industry, governments and authorities must work together and as fast as possible to solve what is the most bizarre mystery in aviation history.

We owe that to the 239 that are no longer with us.