Anguish for relatives as search for missing flight MH370 called off

In a statement issued from Sydney on Tuesday January 17, Malaysian, Chinese and Australian authorities have confirmed that the deep-sea search for the missing Malaysia Airlines’ Boeing 777-200ER, flight MH370, has been terminated without any evidence to support any theories as to where the jet may have crashed.
The final location of Flight MH370, which disappeared on March 8, 2014, with 239 passengers and crew on board while en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur, is likely to remain one of the aviation industry’s greatest mysteries.
The statement from the three authorities stated that: “Despite every effort using the best science available … the search has not been able to locate the aircraft”, adding “The decision to suspend the underwater search has not been taken lightly, nor without sadness.”
It had been agreed in July last year that if no firm evidence of the jet’s location had been found by the end of 2016, the search, which is estimated to have cost in excess of US$145 million, would be wound down. However, relatives of those on board have been greatly distressed by the news. The majority of passengers were from either China and Malaysia.
In China, Jiang Hui, whose mother was also on board the flight, said he felt “disappointed, helpless and angry” because the search had been ended “purely due to a funding shortage”.
“The 370 incident is the most important thing in my life,” he added, making reference to the flight number.
The only confirmed traces of the plane have been three pieces of debris found washed up on Mauritius, the French island of Reunion, and an island off Tanzania. In addition, up to 30 other pieces of wreckage discovered on these three islands, as well as on beaches in Mozambique, Tanzania and South Africa, are thought to have come from the plane.