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Reuters

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak confirmed on Thursday that a Boeing 777 wing segment discovered in the Indian Ocean island of Reunion is from the missing Flight MH370, the first real breakthrough in the search for the plane that disappeared 17 months ago.
"Today, 515 days since the plane disappeared, it is with a heavy heart that I must tell you that an international team of experts have conclusively confirmed that the aircraft debris found on Reunion Island is indeed from MH370," Najib said in a televised statement.
French officials used more cautious language, saying only that there was a  ”very high probability” the wreckage came from MH370.
The Australian government, which leads the seabed search for wreckage west of the country, also said that “based on high probability, it is MH370”.
Malaysia's transport minister was quoted as saying that a maintenance seal on the flaperon was matched to MH370 through Malaysia Airlines records.
#MH370: Transport minister @liowtionglai says Boeing does not have records of other airlines reporting a missing flaperon either
— Sumisha Naidu (@sumishanaidu) August 6, 2015
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappeared in March last year en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew on board.
There were questions about why Najib had moved forward with the statement before all officials had agreed, according to an Australian official with knowledge of the situation who asked for anonymity.
However, Australian officials are withholding public criticism of Najib’s announcement, with Australian Transport Minister Warren Truss saying Malaysia, as the government in charge of the investigation, had the right to make that call. 
“We respect the view that they believe they have sufficient evidence to make a categorical statement of that nature,” he said. “The French inquiry, of course, has not been quite so conclusive.”
Watch: Malaysia confirms debris is from MH370, relatives react

Investigators in France ascertained that the barnacle-covered debris, a 2-2.5 metre wing surface known as a flaperon, belonged to MH370 just days after Malaysia identified it as being part of the same model, a Boeing 777.
The confirmation brings closure to some the relatives of those on board but does not shed any light on what happened to the airliner.
Other relatives said the confirmation that debris came from the plane creates more questions than answers and does little to prove what happened to their loved ones.
About a dozen Chinese passenger relatives protested outside Malaysia Airlines offices in Beijing, complaining about the way Malaysian authorities handled the announcement.  They held signs, including one saying “Malaysia hides the truth,” and another expressing confidence that Chinese President Xi Jinping will help the relatives. 
 
The group was hours later invited into a closed-door talk with airline officials.
China’s Foreign Ministry has reacted to Malaysia’s confirmation by saying that the result points to a conclusion that the flight crashed. Spokeswoman Hua Chunying went on to express sympathies, and to demand that Malaysia make good on commitments to fully investigate the crash.
In Kuala Lumpur, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that “we have to respect the feelings of the relatives and understand the inner torment they’ve suffered in the past days. Of course, the rescue work has to be continued. We agree with the Malaysia that we need to find out the truth of the accident.”
Read more: Relatives of missing on flight MH370 demand more answers
"I would like to assure all those affected by this tragedy that the government of Malaysia is committed to do everything within our means to find out the truth of what happened," Najib said.
The plane piece washed up last Wednesday on Reunion, a volcanic island of 850,000 people that is a full part of France, located in the Indian Ocean near Madagascar.
“[The debris] does seem to indicate that the plane did come down, more or less where we thought it did, and it suggests that for the first time we might be a little bit closer to  solving this baffling mystery,” Prime MinisterTony Abbott told reporters.
Martin Dolan, chief commissioner of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), the agency leading the search in the remote Indian Ocean, added that “we’re confident that we’re looking in the right area and we’ll find the aircraft there”. An ATSB expert is in France working with the analysis team.
Dolan told ABC radio it was “too early to tell” what happened to the  Malaysia Airlines passenger jet, pending more evidence.
Australian aviation expert Neil Hansford said the flaperon snapping off at least gave pointers on how the jet entered the water. “What it does show is that the aircraft has gone into the water in a controlled-type crash and as the engines have hit the water, they’ve sheared off and this part is straight behind one of the engines,” he said.

Reunion is roughly 3,700 km from the broad expanse of the southern Indian Ocean off Australia where search efforts have focused, but officials and experts said currents could have carried wreckage that way, thousands of kilometres from where the plane is thought to have crashed.
Malaysia Airlines said in a separate statement that the relatives of passengers and the crew had been informed.
The airline said the discovery was a major breakthrough in resolving the disappearance of MH370.
"We expect and hope that there would be more objects to be found which would be able to help resolve this mystery," it added.
Read more: What we know about the disappearance of MH370, and what we don't
The discovery of the flaperon led to a frantic search for more possible wreckage from the missing plane in the island.
Satellite and other data point to the plane coming down in the southern Indian Ocean, and ships have been scouring more than 50,000 square kilometres of deep ocean floor for pieces of the wreckage.
Authorities plan to search a total of 120,000 square kilometres. 
“We have two vessels operating still out in the Indian Ocean with towed sonar and they will cover the sea ... thoroughly in the specified search area,”  Dolan said. “We hope as the weather improves to put more assets onto the search.”


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Malaysia Airlines flight 370

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Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak confirms the debris found on Reunion Island is from missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. Photo: Reuters

The discovery of the flaperon led to a frantic search for more possible wreckage from the missing plane in the island. Photo: EPA

Bao Lanfang (C), whose son, daughter-in-law and 3-year-old granddaughter were aboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, kneels down in front of media before she and other family members express their demands to Malaysia Airlines outside its Beijing office. Photo: Reuters

‘Don’t just show me a flaperon. Show me more’: Relatives of missing on flight MH370 demand answers

A representative from Malaysia Airlines speaks to relatives of the missing gathered outside the company's offices in Beijing on Thursday morning. Photo: Simon Song

Zhang Jianyi, whose daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter were on the plane, wants relatives to be flown to the island where the debris was found. Photo: Simon Song

Bao Lanfang, whose son, daughter-in-law and three-year-old granddaughter were on board the missing flight, holds up a placard saying "Mum is always here waiting for you, will never give up". Photo: Reuters

A relative of the missing pictured on Thursday morning outside Malaysia Airline's Beijing office. Photo: Simon Song

It changes nothing: Australia says confirmation of MH370 debris won’t alter crash site search

This map released by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau shows the main search area for MH-370 in grey, with the narrower underwater search areas marked in pink and purple in the southern end of the zone. Graphic: ATSB

Chronological events of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370

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Asia

But France and Australia use more cautious language, saying it is highly likely from the flight


.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}But France and Australia use more cautious language, saying it is highly likely from the flight

But France and Australia use more cautious language, saying it is highly likely from the flight