Quote from ZeBedie:
"...I think the French are saying that it didn't spear-in at 500kt."
More likely, they are speculating that it was set down in a controlled fashion at something like a normal approach speed. For the non-aviator readers, that would also imply a fairly calm sea, wings level, nose-up pitch somewhere between 5 and 10 degrees, and low rate of descent. That could only be achieved with human intervention, and probably with both the slats and flaps extended. If they were, they would be that much more likely to have been torn off.
However, the current situation is that, although the examination at Toulouse has been unable to prove beyond all doubt that the flaperon is from MH370, the expert speculation reported in La Dépêche is all predicated on the assumption that it is.