More uncertainty for MH370 families - expert

Experts have determined the wing fragment is from missing MH370.

Family and friends with loved ones on board the ill-fated flight MH370 will be facing more uncertainty following news that debris discovered a week ago was from the airliner, an expert says.

Overnight, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said the wreckage found on the French-administered island of Reunion was that of MH370.

However, a few hours later French prosecutor, Serge Mackowiak, suggested, but would not confirm, the wreckage was from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight.

The discrepancies between the French and Malaysian statements would be causing uncertainty for families who had loved ones on board the flight, said disaster and mental health expert Associate Professor Sarb Johal, of Massey University's Joint Centre for Disaster Research.

"Any wedge between what different authorities are saying kind of repeats what happened at the very beginning, where there was a lot of uncertainty, a lot of one person was saying this, and one person was saying that.

"All of this doesn't help with the confidence that the families have around what the authorities are saying. It's awakening a lot of uncertainty for them.

Mr Johal said if authorities identified the flaperon beyond any doubt, and other bits of luggage and debris began to be identified as being part of MH370, families may have some "small comfort".

"You've got the idea that perhaps it provides some small comfort to them that actually they can start to think that the plane went down."It's a very dark comfort, thinking they're not able to see their relatives or loved ones again, but at least they can then start to begin the grieving process."

He said a lot of families would be experiencing the idea of "unresolved grief".

"Yes, to all intents and purposes, they probably lost their relatives or their loved ones, but there is no body, there is no explanation, there is no trace of them. They just vanished.

"There's no even coherent way of even understanding where they might be, and there is lots of disagreement, and a really complex international process that has been going on. So everyone is going to be in a different space."

Mr Johal said while some people may have moved further along in the grieving process, news of the newly discovered wreckage could raise complications for them.

"For a lot of people it might be one step forward, three steps back. A lot of people are going to be feeling really numb around this now. This is not even certainty now, they've just found a bit of a plane.

"So it is kind of, 'How do I understand how to process that?' A lot of them will be really experiencing a lot of emotions they can't handle right now."

Mr Johal said there was only some wreckage but no personal identification - an important part of the grieving process.

He said families would now need continued support.

"They've got families and friends around them but for a few of them this might be enough for them to reach out and have different kinds of support. So having that available to them would be really good."