MH370 mishap: Possible engine piece found on South African beach

The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) has said the recent piece of debris found in one of its beaches will first be analysed to see if it possibly belonged to Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 or not.

"The necessary arrangements are under way for the evaluation and collection of the part, which, if it indeed belongs to an aircraft, will then be handed over to Malaysian authorities," the Guardian quoted a statement issued by the SACAA as saying.

Malaysia on its part said that a team will be sent to retrieve the possible piece of aircraft engine inlet cowling which was found near the Mossel Bay, a southern cape of South Africa on Monday.

Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said that based on early reports, there was a possibility of the piece originating from an inlet cowling of an aircraft engine while pressing that a further examination and analysis were needed.

Meanwhile, South African archaeologist Neels Kruger said that he found the piece while along a lagoon and recognised the brown honeycomb structure from photos of other pieces of possible MH370 debris.

Kruger after examining the piece alerted the South African Civil Aviation Authority and the Australian authorities about it.

In 2014, the flight MH370 disappeared from its radars after taking off from Kuala Lumpur, bound for Beijing, killing 239 passengers and crew members on board.

A piece on one wing was found in the French island of Reunion in July last year but no further confirmed wreckage has been found and several items were still in the process of being examined.

Meanwhile, the debris found off the south-east African coast arrived for testing in Australia on Monday.