Families furious over report declaring flight MH370 'lost' Malaysia Airlines is set to declare MH370 officially lost, a representative said If MH370 is declared 'lost', the search off the Australian coast would stop The Boeing 777 vanished off radars on March 8 with 239 people aboard Comments had brought 'intense agony and confusions to family members' Both Malaysia Airlines and Australia deny report and say search will continue Relatives of MH370 passengers are outraged after a senior Malaysia Airlines representative allegedly said the beleaguered carrier is planning on officially declaring the plane 'lost', which would call off the search. Commercial director Hugh Dunleavy said authorities are working to set a date, likely by the end of the year, to formally announce the loss of the Boeing 777, which vanished off radars on March 8 with 239 people aboard. An organisation representing families of the MH370 passengers said Mr Dunleavy's comments, denied by both Malaysia Airlines and Australia, had brought 'intense agony and confusions to family members'. Still searching: Malaysia Airlines' commercial director said the company is preparing to declare flight MH370 officially lost which would see the search, pictured in April, called off 'We don't have a final date but once we've had an official loss recorded we can work with the next of kin on the full compensation payments for those families,' Mr Dunleavy was quoted as saying. An industry source said once the plane is declared lost, all search efforts will be stopped. 'The talk has been that the search has been futile so far and it's unlikely to bring anything,' the source said. The comments were allegedly made by Mr Dunleavy during an interview with the New Zealand Herald last week. Anger: Relatives of MH370 passengers, pictured here in Beijing earlier this year, said Mr Dunleavy's comments had brought 'intense agony and confusions to family members Survey ship M/V Fugro Discovery which is searching for missing flight MH370. Reports the plane may be declared lost has sparked anger among passengers' relatives But Voice370, an association of MH370 victims' relatives, said in a statement late Monday that it was 'bewildered' by the report 'Such unilateral declaration brings intense agony and confusions to family members and makes us lose faith in the search effort,' it said. In a statement Monday, Malaysia Airlines distanced itself from Mr Dunleavy's comments, saying it was his personal opinion and 'ongoing search and recovery operations will remain and will not be discontinued'. It said any information regarding MH370 will only be communicated by the Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) in Australia. Officials at the JACC said Tuesday that Mr Dunleavy's comments were 'greatly disturbing for the families and loved ones of the passengers and crew on board MH370', reiterating Australia's commitment to the search. MH370 inexplicably disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in what remains one of history's great aviation mysteries. Australia has been spearheading the hunt for the plane, which is believed to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean off western Australia. Some next-of-kin bitterly accuse the Malaysian government and airline of a bungled response and cover-up, charges that they have strenuously denied. A Malaysian family last month sued the government and the airline for negligence in what is believed to be the first lawsuit filed over the disaster.