The sister of a flight MH370 passenger says her heart fell when she heard plane debris had been found in the Indian Ocean.
Sara Weeks said speculation that the wreckage could belong to flight MH370 "looks obviously bad" for the fate of the vanished plane's passengers.
Paul Weeks. Photo: SUPPLIED
Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 disappeared more than a year ago with 239 passengers and crew on board, among them New Zealander Paul Weeks.
The plane disappeared shortly after take off from the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur en route to China on 8 March 2014.
Wreckage has now been discovered off the coast of Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean, and a US official has said investigators are confident it is from the same type of aircraft, a Boeing 777.
Sara Weeks said even if the debris turned out to be part of the missing airliner, finding out what happened would be a long process.
She said when she heard the news her heart sank.
"I guess it was just the potential that they may have actually found something that looks obviously bad. But there's no conclusive proof that it is belonging to MH370 and I guess we will just have to wait and see what the serial number on this piece of aircraft tells us.
Identifying the debris would be just a "start" towards finding something out.
"Even if it is a piece of the plane, it doesn't really answer any questions or resolve anything at this stage and it's still going to be a long, ongoing process."
Ms Weeks said she stopped hearing from Malaysian officials a long time ago, and said in any case their contact was "useless".
"I'd rather not be contacted by Malaysia Airlines or the Malaysian government or anyone involved in that any more; I'd rather be contacted by someone with a bit of empathy and a want to actually resolve the problem and find what happened to the plane."