Family Of Philip Wood Waiting For Confirmation On Plane Debris

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NORTH TEXAS (CBS11) - French investigators are examining a piece of debris that washed up on the island of Le Reunion off the coast of Madagascar.

On Wednesday as people were cleaning up the beach, they discovered what investigators think is a piece of a wing from a Boeing 777. A tattered suitcase was also found in the area.

The only missing Boeing 777 in the world at this time is Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which disappeared on March 8, 2014 with 239 passengers and crew on board.

Le Reunion is French territory. On Thursday officials said the debris may be brought to mainland France on Saturday for a full investigation.

Philip Wood, a 50-year-old IBM executive and North Texas native, is one of the missing people from the flight.

His partner, Sarah Bajc, told CNN many loved ones of the passengers have become suspicious of new developments, because of so many false alarms over the last sixteen months.

"I feel that way about the plane part, but also about ultimately finding the crash if indeed it is crashed, and having bodies to identify.
His father, Aubrey Wood, told CBS 11 News, he received an email from Malaysia Airlines confirming that debris was found yesterday, but that the connection to the missing jet is not yet confirmed.

Wood says the message also noted that Malaysia Airlines hoped to have more information for the families of passengers by early next week.
"It's like picking off a scab. We've accepted Philip is gone, but we still want closure," Aubrey Wood said in a phone interview.

Tom Wood, Philip's younger brother, says it still feels like his brother never left.

Tom Wood told CBS 11 News that there are so many unanswered questions – and so many missing details of what happened.

"I'm sure everyone would like to be 100 percent confident that we know they're really gone," said Tom Wood.

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