Right flaperon found on Réunion

On 29 July 2015 a large wing trailing-edge surface was found on a beach at Saint-Denis, Réunion, a French département in the western Indian Ocean. The part was taken into French judicial custody and examined at DGA Techniques Aéronautiques in Toulouse. Although the nameplate was missing, internal part numbers were traced through EADS CASA manufacturing records to the right flaperon of 9M-MRO. Confirmation was announced on 3 September 2015. Barnacle growth was consistent with more than a year in the water. Drift modelling (CSIRO and others) found a southern 7th-arc origin compatible with a Réunion arrival in mid-2015. Damage interpretation — high-speed impact versus a ditching sequence — remains argued in the technical literature; the official investigation did not treat the flaperon as proof of a controlled landing.