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Zhuang Pinghui

Laura Zhou

Family members of Chinese passengers on the missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370 were in denial on Thursday as Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak confirmed that debris found on Reunion Island belonged to the aircraft.
The retrieval of the wing segment, or flaperon, from the remote French Indian Ocean island raised more questions than answers, they said.
Over a dozen relatives of the missing Chinese passengers gathered outside Malaysia Airlines' Beijing office on Thursday amid heavy police and media presence.
MH370, a Boeing 777, disappeared on March 8 last year with 239 people on board, 153 of them mainlanders.
Many relatives held placards, with one saying: "I don't want compensation, give me back my family." Said another: "The plane will surely return safely".

Watch: Families of the victims from MH370 crash storm airline office
At one point, relatives went to Boeing's China office, which is in the same compound as the Malaysia Airlines office, but were denied a meeting. They will meet the airline's representatives on Friday.
Hu Xiufang, whose son, daughter-in-law and grandson were on the flight, said she was unconvinced by the evidence found on Reunion Island.
"The cut of that piece of wing was very tidy and clear. Could the debris be fake? We want to go to the island where the wing was found," she said.
Retiree Zhang Jianyi, whose daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter were on the plane, said it was the airline's duty to fly the relatives to the island.
"If they don't, there must be something fishy," he said.
READ MORE: ‘Don’t just show me a flaperon. Show me more’: Relatives of missing on flight MH370 demand answers
Xu Jinghong, whose mother was among the missing, said the latest news contradicted what the airline had previously said about the plane's fate.
"I was told the plane was intact and plunged to the sea floor of the Indian Ocean at a certain angle and that was why they couldn't find it. But now they are saying that the plane broke apart," Xu said.
"They found only a piece of wing and how convenient is it that it happens to be from a Boeing 777? Is there a possibility of it being a counterfeit?
"If the debris is indeed from MH370, then there must a large area of debris, luggage or bodies. This so-called physical evidence is simply not convincing for me.
"If the passengers are alive, we want to see them. If they're dead, we need to see their bodies."

A joint statement by the family members on their verified Weibo account said they could not accept the "reckless and murky" conclusion.
"How can such an isolated piece of debris prove the plane had plunged into the sea and that the piece fell from the accident?" the statement read.
"If the plane had indeed plunged into the sea, how is it that so many satellites in the south Indian Ocean could identify 122 seagulls but not a large Boeing aircraft?"
READ MORE: ‘Low-speed plane crash ruled out’: Hong Kong, foreign aviation experts weigh in on clues from wrecked MH370 flaperon
The relatives said they were not in denial but that the evidence provided was simply not strong enough.
"The families are prepared for all eventualities. But we [did not say we would be prepared for] 'strong supposition'," another post said, referring to French deputy prosecutor Serge Mackowiak's statement that experts had "very strong suppositions" that the flaperon belonged to MH370.
"The French and Boeing must say it is from MH370 without a doubt [before we will accept the evidence]," the post said. "We are not living in denial … but we owe it to our loved ones not to declare them lost without 100 per cent certainty."
Jacquita Gonzales, wife of MH370's chief steward, said the search for the plane should continue to answer relatives' questions about what happened to their loved ones.
"I want to know where the main body of the plane is so we can … extract the black box in order to find out what happened," Gonzales said. "Only then can we gain full closure."
Lee Khim Fatt, husband of MH370 flight attendant Foong Wai Yueng, said the announcement about the debris brought him little comfort.
"There are still so many questions left unanswered," he said. "Until today, we have no answers. Don't just show me a flaperon. Show me more. Answer the questions."
READ MORE: MH370: What we know and what we don’t
 


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Malaysia Airlines flight 370

Chinese families of missing MH370 passengers in denial as debris raises more questions

Relatives of MH370 protest before a scheduled meeting with Malaysia Airlines in Beijing on August 7 morning. Photo: Simon Song

A relative of passengers of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 cries out her complaints outside the Malaysia Airlines office. Photo: EPA

A relative of a missing Chinese passenger on board MH370 waits outside Malaysia Airlines' Beijing office on Thursday. Photo: Simon Song

An angry family member shouts her complaints outside the Malaysia Airlines office in Beijing. Photo: EPA

INFOGRAPHIC: Can the mystery of MH370 now be solved?

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China

People & Culture

Relatives say wing segment that experts have confirmed belong to the plane gives no answers


Family members of Chinese passengers on the missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370 were in denial on Thursday as Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak confirmed that debris found on Reunion Island belonged to the aircraft.


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.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Relatives say wing segment that experts have confirmed belong to the plane gives no answers

Relatives say wing segment that experts have confirmed belong to the plane gives no answers