It is the devastating news hundreds of families across the globe had been awaiting for more than a year, including one right here in North Texas.
On Wednesday, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced debris, a damaged wing flap, found on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean was a piece of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.
The plane disappeared in March of 2014 with 239 people on board, including 50-year-old Fort Worth native Philip Wood.
Wood had been visiting his family in Fort Worth just before taking off to Malaysia for business.
After Wednesday’s announcement, his brother, Tom Wood, said while discovery of the debris was hopeful, it’s still doesn’t provide the answers his family wants.
“It took me about a good eight to nine months to get my whole emotional situation under control," Wood said. "This just kind of makes you miss him. It brings a lot of things back. It’s rough in that sense.”
Wood said after the plane’s initial disappearance, his family held on to hope for several months his older brother would somehow be found alive.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
It’s taken nearly a year to have some closure about what happened.
“I understand if we never find anything, I understand if we never know the complete truth. Because that’s just maybe how it’s going to be,” Wood said.
Still, even given the discovery of the debris, he’s not entirely convinced the plane simply crashed.
“I’m not fully there. I know a few other family members aren’t fully there. And I’m still not completely convinced there still isn’t some kind of nonsense going on. When we get a black box, that will really give us some solid information,” he said.
So until then, his family will continue their daily routines, while honoring Philip Wood's memory.
“I think about what my brother would’ve wanted and he’d want us all to keep, you know, going...not just to revolve around this,” Wood said.
