I have a Japanese book titled “Guide to Reading English Aircraft Manuals.” It is intended for aircraft maintenance personnel at airlines and explains a large number of English technical terms. Just flipping through it, I found this diagram to be quite helpful: the Major Zone Index Diagram.

It turns out that every zone of the airframe is assigned a 3-digit number for management:

100 Lower Fuselage 200 Upper Fuselage 300 Empennage (Tail Section) 400 Engines and Nacelles 500 Left Wing 600 Right Wing 700 Landing Gear 800 Doors

For example, regarding the number “676EB” on the wreckage introduced in our previous article MH370 Flight Disappearance Event—Wreckage Verification Report 1:

Now we can know that parts numbered in the 600s belong to the Right Wing.

Next time you go to the airport, make sure to observe the numbers on the airframe.