A metal fragment found in a sandbank off Mozambique might well be debris from Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 because it is consistent with theories about where the wreckage may lie, Australia's transport minister said Thursday as victims' families called for a full search of the east African coast.
The fragment, which could be part of the missing Boeing 777's horizontal stabilizer, was found by American adventurer Blaine Gibson.
It was being taken to Australia where it will be examined by international specialists and officials from Malaysia.
Early photographic analysis of the 11.7 inch-by-16 inch object suggests it could have come from the jetliner. Gibson, who is from Seattle, has blogged extensively about the search for MH370.
The Boeing 777 vanished almost exactly two years ago en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people aboard and is thought to have crashed into the southern Indian Ocean.
