Former US National Transportation Safety Board investigator Greg Feith told Bloomberg that since the piece was not "crushed," experts could "deduce it was either a low-energy crash or a low-energy intentional ditching."
Rahman came to the same conclusion.
"It (the flaperon) was only slightly damaged and was just encrusted with barnacles. Its appearance indicates that it was not violently torn off from the aircraft's main body ... it does seem that it got detached pretty nicely at its edges," Rahman told Bernama.
"If MH370 had crashed with a really hard impact, we would have seen small pieces of debris floating on the sea immediately after that," he added.
"Furthermore, the flaperon that was recovered (from Reunion Island) wouldn't have been in one piece ... we would have only seen bits and pieces of it." t's possible that the flaperon broke off from the submerged plane body, Rahman explained.
"Similarly, other parts would also become detached and float with the help of the strong water current, before being washed up on the shores of islands like Reunion," he said.