A day after the discovery of suspected plane wreckage off the coast of southern Thailand officials said it is increasingly unlikely to be part of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 which vanished nearly two years ago.
A large piece of debris washed ashore at the weekend in Nakhon Si Thammarat province and was handed over to authorities for identification by local villagers.
"Villagers found the wreckage, measuring about two meters wide and three meters long," said district head Tanyapat Patthikongpan.
The news caused speculation in the Thai media but the MH370 link has been played down.
"Personally, I don’t think it’s MH370," said Thai government spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd.
Local officials said judging by its condition, the wreckage could have been under the sea for no more than one year.
"It would appear to be inconsistent with the drift models that appeared when MH370’s flaperon was discovered on Reunion Island last July," added Greg Waldron, Asia managing editor at Flightglobal.
"The markings, engineering, and tooling apparent in this debris strongly suggest that it is aerospace related. It will need to be carefully examined, however, to determine its exact origin."
Officials from Thailand’s Department of Civil Aviation are being dispatched to the scene and the debris will be airlifted to Bangkok for further investigation.
