"It wouldn't surprise me if sooner or later... if there was debris floating, it would end up on the West Australian coast," he told ABC local radio in Perth.
But Francis stressed that he did not have any information to suggest the debris was from the missing flight.
Local media in Western Australia said that an ATSB spokesman confirmed that the piece of debris was "interesting" and its report described the unidentified material as "sheet metal with rivets".
The planned air search activities were suspended Wednesday due to poor weather conditions in the search area in the southern Indian Ocean west of Australia.
“Three aircraft had already departed for today's search area prior to the suspension taking effect. They have been recalled,” the JACC said in a stament earlier Wednesday.
“Current weather conditions are resulting in heavy seas and poor visibility and are making air search activities ineffective and potentially hazardous.”
