The flaperon wreckage discovered on the French island of Réunion in the southwest Indian Ocean is likely from Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which went missing last year.

BREAKING Is this piece found this morning could be flaps of #MH370 ? https://t.co/MlhHe6Px4F pic.twitter.com/FyRC4L7X9e

— AirLive.net (@airlivenet) July 29, 2015

According to the “657BB” marking on the wreckage, this should be a “Flaperon” from the trailing edge of the left wing of a Boeing 777.

BREAKING '657BB' code found on wreckage is Boeing 777 flaperon according to manual #MH370 https://t.co/MlhHe777Wd pic.twitter.com/bM9DPNW5gw

— AirLive.net (@airlivenet) July 30, 2015

UPDATE Boeing 777 maintenance manual can be read on https://t.co/MlhHe6Px4F (look page 235) #MH370 pic.twitter.com/Wd8MmzQhNu

— AirLive.net (@airlivenet) July 30, 2015

Currently, aside from MH370, there are no other missing Boeing 777 aircraft. Therefore, theoretically speaking, this should be the MH370 flight that mysteriously disappeared last year. Let us wait and see how things develop.

Regarding the Flaperon, the English term is Flaperon, which is a combination of Flap and Aileron. We know that the Aileron is the control surface that controls the aircraft’s roll, while Flaps are control surfaces used to increase the Lift of the aircraft during low-speed flight.

For large aircraft, Flaps often need to be made very long, but this occupies the space of the Aileron. Consequently, the flap surface in the corresponding position is separated to function as an Aileron; this type of aileron is known as a “Flaperon”. Therefore, a “Flaperon” is a type of wing surface that possesses the functions of both Flaps and Ailerons, and belongs to the category of inboard ailerons. The part indicated by the number 3 in the image below is the “Flaperon”.

Flaps can only deflect downward, while Ailerons can deflect up and down. When the aircraft is in the takeoff or landing phase, the “Flaperon” works in conjunction with the Flaps to help increase Lift. When the aircraft is cruising at high speed, the outboard ailerons are locked, and only the “Flaperon” functions as an Aileron.

In the video below, you can see how the “Flaperon” of a Qatar Airways Boeing 777-300ER continuously adjusts to control longitudinal stability when encountering Turbulence.

In the video below, you can see how the “Flaperon” of an American Airlines Boeing 777-300ER coordinates as both a Flap and an Aileron during the landing process. The video is quite long; you can just watch the segment from 5:00 to 11:00.