Boeing to study plane debris as MH370 probe advances

NEW YORK - Boeing said Friday it will send a technical team to France to study plane debris that authorities increasingly believe is from Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which disappeared in March 2014.

"At the request of civil aviation investigating authorities, Boeing will dispatch a technical team to assist in analyzing the part found on Reunion Island," the company said in a statement.

"Our goal, along with the entire global aviation industry, continues to be not only to find the airplane, but also to determine what happened - and why," the US aerospace giant added.

Boeing declined further comment, and did not provide details on the number of staff who will be deployed.

Authorities hunting for the missing plane said Friday they were "increasingly confident" that wreckage found on an Indian Ocean island was from the ill-fated jet.

The debris, which washed up on the French island of La Reunion, is expected to be flown to a testing site in France near the city of Toulouse for analysis by aviation authorities.

Malaysian officials said Friday the debris is from a Boeing 777, the plane used in the flight.

A commercial Air France flight carrying the debris was due to land at Paris' Orly airport on Saturday morning at around 6:00 am (0400 GMT). It will be transported to Toulouse for analysis in a defense ministry laboratory.

French officials said analysis of the wing part would begin on Wednesday, along with an examination of parts of a suitcase discovered nearby.

The Malaysia Airlines flight disappeared on March 8, 2014 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. There were 239 people on board.