Malaysia Airlines Flight 370: Crash investigators warn against 'treasure hunt' mentality

A piece of debris thought to have been a mechanism from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has been identified as a domestic ladder and not part of the plane that has been missing since last March.

Malaysian director general of civil aviation Azharuddin Abdul Rahman confirmed the mystery metal object that was washed up on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean where a suspected part of the Boeing 777's wing had been found last week to the Associated Press.

That part has been flown to Paris so aviation experts at a French military testing facility can examine whether it is part of the plane or not.

A representative from Boeing, has identified the wing component as a flaperon an aircraft control device from a Boeing 777. Flight 370 is the only missing 777 aircraft, which adds substance to the speculation that the part could be from the plane.

The new piece of debris found on a beach near the town of Saint-Denis on Sunday morning had nothing to do with the investigation involving the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, Rahman told the Associated Press.

"I read all over the media it (the new debris) was part of a door," he told the news service, but he said that he had checked with the Civil Aviation Authority and with those involved in the search on the island and the object had turned out to be just a domestic ladder.

"There is a sort of 'treasure hunt' mentality that is taking hold and people are calling us for everything," said a local source close to the investigation.

Flight 370 disappeared on March 8 last year during a scheduled flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board. It has not been found and many relatives of those on board are awaiting the outcome of the enquiry on the potential wing part.

Malaysian transport minister Liow Tiong Lai has indicated that representatives from Malaysia, the US, China, and France along with engineers from the aircraft manufacturer Boeing would take part in the verification of the flaperon.

Liow said: "I urge all parties to allow this crucial investigation process to take its course. I reiterate this is for the sake of the next of kin of the loved ones of MH370 who would be anxiously awaiting news and have suffered much over this time.

"We will make an announcement once the verification process has been completed," he added.

A source close to the investigation in Paris said in an AFP report: "no object or debris likely to come from a plane" had been placed into evidence on Sunday.

Police had also collected from the island on Sunday a mangled piece of metal inscribed with two Chinese characters, attached to what appears to be a leather-covered handle.

Chinese internet users suggested it may be a kettle.

"People are more vigilant. They are going to think any metallic object they find on the beach is from flight MH370, but there are objects all along the coast, the ocean continually throws them up," said Jean-Yves Sambimanan, spokesman for the town of Saint-Andre where the wing debris was found.

Reunion Island resident Nicolas Ferrier has also claimed to have found a blue seat and suitcases that may have been part of the wreckage on the island of Reunion in May. He burned the items thinking they were rubbish.