Australia warns MH370 debris won't solve the mystery of what happened

Australian authorities yesterday said the discovery of plane wreckage, even if found to be from MH370, would not narrow down the location of the main debris field or solve the mystery of why the jet crashed.

The wreckage, which is two metres long, was found on a beach on the French island of La Reunion in the Indian Ocean and is expected to be analysed in France today.

Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss said while the part "could be a very important piece of evidence" if it was linked to MH370, using reverse modelling to determine more precisely where the debris may have drifted from was "almost impossible".

"After 16 months, the vagaries of the currents, reverse modelling is almost impossible," Truss said. "And so I don't think it contributes a great deal in as far as our knowledge of where the aircraft is located at the present time."

Australian search authorities, which are leading the hunt for the Boeing 777 aircraft in the Indian Ocean some 4,000km from La Reunion, said they were confident the main debris field was in the current search area.

The Malaysia Airlines jet was carrying 239 people - most of the Chinese - when it vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March last year.