The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has received debris recovered by an individual conducting a private search along Africa's west coast which may be linked to the missing Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200ER that operated flight MH370.
Australian media has reported that Blaine Gibson recovered five pieces of debris on the coast of Madagascar, and that two of the pieces appear to show evidence of fire damage.
In response to a query from FlightGlobal, the ATSB confirmed that it received the debris from Gibson on 12 September, and that it is "seeking advice form Malaysian authorities regarding how they would like to proceed."
It adds that Malaysia maintains overall responsibility for the investigation into the missing jet, and is thus responsible for all analysis of possible MH370 debris.
The Australian authority has previously identified a number of other pieces of debris that washed up along the African coast - including a flaperon, and pieces from the wing, interior and engine cowling - as likely being from the missing jet, which was registered 9M-MRO.
In the absence of any new leads, the governments of Australia, Malaysia and China have agreed to suspend the underwater search for MH370 once the 120,000km2 primary search zone has been completed, which is likely in December.
A number of MH370 passengers' families are campaigning for the three governments to continue the search.
MH370 disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in the early hours of 8 March 2014. The Malaysian investigation has concluded that the aircraft ended its flight in the southern Indian Ocean.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
