While on the subject of Occam's Razor:
Originally Posted by
Hyperveloce
could the flaperon have been lost at a previous stage of the A/C journey toward the 7th INMARSAT curve ?
Yes, it's possible.
But if we're talking about a flaperon from an aircraft that almost certainly went down in the ocean, then I'm sure you will agree that it's much more likely that the flaperon detached upon impact with the sea, rather than falling off in flight. I'm not aware of any recorded instances of the latter happening to a 777.