A TOWELETTE that washed up on a Western Australia beach is being examined to determine whether it could have come from missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

The towelette — a small pre-moistened paper towel — has been shipped to Canberra for further testing after being discovered in July by a couple walking along a beach in Cervantes, Nine News reports.

The couple who discovered the towelette said the item was “unopened, which was very unusual”.

Experts say it would be possible for a package that small to travel long distances.

media_camera A recreation of what was discovered on the Western Australia coast in July. Picture: Nine News media_camera A recreation of what was discovered on the Western Australia coast in July. Picture: Nine News

News of the discovery comes days after the world stopped to acknowledge one year since MH370 disappeared with all 239 people on board.

The Boeing 777’s disappearance was formally declared an accident by the Malaysia government at the end of January, with all passengers and crew presumed dead.

The plane dropped off civilian radar when its transponder and other equipment were switched off shortly after takeoff from Kuala Lumpur on March 8 last year, but was tracked for some time by Malaysia’s military radar as it headed south across the country towards the Indian Ocean.

The plane, which had been destined for Beijing, is believed to have gone down in the southern Indian Ocean off the coast of Western Australia.

media_camera If MH370 went down within the search zone of the Western Australia coast, the towelette would have had to float almost 2000km before being washed onto a Cervantes beach.

Ships looking for debris have scoured more than 40 per cent of the 60,000 sqkm target area.

This week, the release of a 584-page interim report by Malaysia’s Department of Civil Aviation raised concerns about Malaysia Airlines’ handling of the disappearance as well as potential issues surrounding a shipment of batteries aboard the doomed flight.

A shipment of mobile phone-type batteries were not screened before being loaded on to MH370, with concerns the 221kg shipment may have overheated and caught fire, filling the cabin with toxic fumes.

Two American airlines, United and Delta recently banned bulk shipment of lithium-ion batteries because of the risk of overheating, and erupting into flames.

media_camera A Boeing 777-200 plane of Malaysia Airlines prepares to land at the Hong Kong International Airport in Hong Kong, China. It is the same model as MH370.

The interim report also highlighted the confusion that reigned when Malaysia Airlines contacted ATC about the missing plane, five hours after its last communication.

A shift change meant the supervisor who was on at the time, had gone to sleep and the controller struggled to answer questions about MH370’s whereabouts.

“Never mind, I wake up my supervisor and ask him to check again to go to the room and check what the last contact all this thing,” said the controller.

media_camera The RAAF crew of the C-130J Hercules aircraft scour the southern Indian Ocean for sign of MH370. Picture: Leading Seaman Justin Brown

The delay in reporting the aircraft as missing has contributed to the difficulty now facing search teams trying to find the Boeing 777.

The report also stated a locator beacon battery on MH370 had expired a year before the final flight.

Australian Transport Minister Warren Truss said recently that if the plane was not found by May, one option was to expand the hunt beyond the search zone off Western Australia into the wider surrounding area.

media_camera The Phoenix Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) Bluefin-21 is craned over the side of Australian Defence Vessel Ocean Shield in the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

media_camera College students light candles to pray for the passengers aboard the missing MH370 at Yangzhou University in Yangzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province.

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