印度洋小島發現疑似MH370殘骸 Investigators examine possible MH370 part

Crash investigators are examining what may be the most significant development yet in the 17-month search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 after debris potentially related to the crash was found on the Indian Ocean island of La Réunion.

長達17個月的馬航(Malaysia Airlines)MH370搜尋過程可能出現迄今最爲重大的一項進展，空難調查人員正對此展開調查。此前警方在印度洋法屬留尼汪島發現了一片可能與這架失蹤飛機相關的殘骸。

A French aviation expert pointed on Twitter to apparently strong similarities between the part — apparently a flaperon, a control surface from a wing — and the same part on a Boeing 777, the type of aircraft lost. Associated Press, the wire service, quoted an anonymous “US official” as saying “with a high degree of confidence” that the part came from a 777.

一名法國航空專家在Twitter上指出這片殘骸（看上去是機翼的一個控制面襟副翼）看上去與波音(Boeing)777非常相似，MH370正是這種機型。新聞通訊社美聯社(Associated Press)援引一位匿名的“美國官員”的話稱“高度懷疑”該零件來自一架波音777。

Daniel O’Malley, a spokesman with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, said on Thursday the agency was working with French officials and experts from Boeing to try and confirm the type of aircraft the debris was from and whether it was from MH370.

澳大利亞交通安全局(Australian Transport Safety Bureau)發言人丹尼爾攠汙利(Daniel O’Malley)週四表示，該局正與法國官員和來自波音的專家合作，將努力證實這片殘骸來自哪個型號的飛機以及是否來自MH370。

“The location where the debris was found is not inconsistent with the current search location,” he said.

他表示：“碎片被發現的地理位置與目前的搜索範圍並無不符。”

If the part is from the missing flight, it could provide critical clues to the fate of the aircraft, which disappeared on March 8, 2014 with 239 people on board during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Radar tracking showed that the aircraft changed course suddenly part way through the flight and later analysis suggested the aircraft had headed out over the Indian Ocean.

如果這片碎片來自失蹤飛機，那麼這可能會爲MH370的命運帶來關鍵線索，2014年3月8日，從吉隆坡飛往北京的MH370航班失蹤，機上共有239人。雷達跟蹤數據顯示，這架飛機在飛行過程中突然改變路線，後來的分析顯示，飛機飛向印度洋上空。

Based on the earlier analysis, the Australian Air Force and Navy have been searching for a remote area off Australia’s west coast for signs of the aircraft, with no success. While Réunion, a French territory east of Madagascar, is more than 1,000 miles from the area of the Australian search, it is possible the part was carried by ocean currents to the small island.

根據早先的分析，澳大利亞空軍和海軍一直在遠離該國西海岸的海上搜尋失蹤飛機的跡象，但沒有取得任何進展。位於馬達加斯加東部的法屬留尼汪島距離澳大利亞軍隊搜索區域有1000多英里之遙，但洋流有可能將飛機碎片帶到這個小島。