Flight MH370 Update: Plane Part From Malaysian Airlines Possibly Found Washed Up On Shore

A large chunk of metal has washed ashore in southern Thailand, but Malaysian authorities are warning against speculation that it could be from flight MH370 that went missing almost two years ago.

Flight MH370 lost communications after making a sharp turn away from its Beijing destination before disappearing in March 2014. It is assumed it crashed into the Indian Ocean after loosing contact but only one piece of the missing aircraft was found: a slab of wing that washed ashore on Reunion Island in the western Indian Ocean last July.

Thailand’s Transportation Ministry said four Malaysian officials and two Thai experts will visit the site Monday.

Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said he instructed Malaysian civil aviation officials to contact Thailand about the newly found wreckage, a curved piece of metal measuring about 6 ½ feet by 10 feet with electrical wires hanging from it and numbers stamped on it in several places.

“I urge the media and the public not to speculate because it will give undue pressure to the loved ones of the victims of MH370,” he said.

The latest debris was found on the eastern coast of southern Thailand’s Nakkon Si Thammarat province, about 370 miles south of Bangkok on the Gulf of Thailand. Debris can drift thousands of miles on ocean currents but that location would be a surprise based on the data from Flight MH370.

The plane was tracked by radar flying over the South China Sea but for some unknown reason, made a sharp turn west where it lost all communication with air traffic control. Officials believe it continued on its path on autopilot until it ran out of fuel and crashed into the water.

Search for the missing jet carrying 239 people is still ongoing. The second search phase is expected to be completed by June. Australia has led a multinational search with an estimated cost of more than $120 million.

PHOTO: Debris from a Boeing 777 found off coast of Reunion Island believed to be from Flight MH 370