MH370 Update: Recovered Jet Section Arrives At French Lab For Testing

The piece of a jet that's believed to be from a Boeing 777 — the same model of a Malaysia Airlines plane that went missing last year — is now in France, where it will be examined in a government laboratory near Toulose.

After the large piece of debris was discovered on the French island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean this week, Malaysia Airlines said it "is almost certainly part of a Boeing 777."

The airline also says that MH370 "is believed to be the only 777 to have crashed south of the equator since the jet came into service 20 years ago."

Speaking about the debris, ocean circulation expert Arnold L. Gordon of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory told NPR this week, "I think it is very likely that it's from Flight 370."

The section was flown to Paris and received a police escort to the lab, reports France 24, which adds that investigators will also examine parts of a brown suitcase that was found near the wing section.

From Paris, Jake Cigainero reports for our Newscast unit:

"Until now, Australian authorities had led the international investigation into Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which disappeared en route from Kuala Lampur to Beijing.

"French investigators now hold a key piece of evidence, believed to be a wing part, known as a flaperon, that could be from the missing Boeing 777.

"Investigators hope to determine the cause of the crash and possibly find clues that lead to more wreckage. The flight disappeared over the Indian Ocean nearly 4,000 miles away from where the flaperon was found, on an island off the coast of East Africa.

"French authorities and Malaysian experts will meet Monday in Paris."