Wing Fragment Major Clue in Malaysia Plane Crash

A possible clue to the lost Malaysian Airlines plane has washed ashore on an island in the Indian Ocean.

Investigators say the piece of debris could prove to be a major lead in the 2014 disappearance of Flight MH370. They're almost certain the 9-foot chunk of debris is part of a wing that's unique to the Boeing 777 aircraft.

"This piece of wreckage is what's called a flaperon," aviation expert Geoffrey Thomas explained. "It's used when you're slowing the aircraft down and for takeoff."

Today the only missing Boeing 777 in the world is the Malaysia Airlines plane that disappeared last year.

"Clearly if this is wreckage from MH370, it's an important breakthrough," Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss said.

The piece of debris, which was covered in shells, was found on the Island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Madagascar.

Investigators say if the piece is from that missing airliner, it means it traveled some 4,000 miles from the plane's last location.

"It seems unusual that it would be on the other side of the Indian Ocean except when you look at the Indian Ocean current, which is anti-clockwise," Thomas continued. "Oceanographers always said that the debris, if we found any, would be (in) southern Indonesia or on the east coast of Africa or one of the islands."

Officials are now focusing on a number stamped on the wreckage.

"In aviation, every single part of an airplane, all the millions of pieces, have a serial number," Thomas explained. "You can track it back to the day it was manufactured."

Aviation experts say Boeing will be able to identify the source of the debris within 24 hours.

"As long as the part number and serial number can still be read, that's the big thing because that will help us understand if it's come from this aircraft or not," said Dennis Hill, an independent airline crash investigator.

On March 8, 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 was flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing when it vanished with 239 people onboard. It prompted a massive, multi-country search that came up empty.

Now 17 months later, the first real physical evidence that could help investigators may finally begin to solve the mystery of MH370.

"It would not surprise me if more debris will be washing up in that part of the region in the coming weeks," Prof. Charitha Pattiaratchi, with the University of Western Australia Oceans Institute, said.