Wreckage from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 suggests the aircraft did not make a controlled descent into the ocean, according to a new report.

Various pieces of the Boeing 777 have been washed up along the east coast of Africa in recent months, offering investigators fresh insight into what might have caused the plane to disappear.

The plane disappeared while flying to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur with 239 people on board in March 2014.

Following recent wreckage analysis, Australian investigators suggests the aircraft’s wing flaps were in a “cruise” position when it hit the surface of the Indian Ocean.

Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigators focused their most recent examination on the recovered right outboard wing flap section of the plane.

“The purpose of the examination was to inform the end-of-flight scenarios being considered by the search team,” the report said.

“The right flaperon was probably at, or close to, the neutral position at the time it separated from the wing.”

The section is one of more than 20 pieces of debris collected to date.