Hong Kong (CNN) Officials involved in the arduous search for Malayasia Airlines Flight 370 won't rule out another hunt for the plane if "credible" evidence emerges, Australia's transport minister said Wednesday.

"It's not a closed book by any stretch," Darren Chester said at a news briefing in Melbourne. "I don't rule out a future underwater search."

"It's a question of if you have credible new information, which leads to a specific location."

Australian, China and Malaysia announced the suspension of the the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 nearly three years after the plane vanished without a trace over the Indian Ocean.

Officials from those nations had been leading the search for MH370, which disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014, with 239 people on board. The countries on Tuesday issued a joint statement announcing the suspension.

"The decision to suspend the underwater search has not been taken lightly nor without sadness," the statement said. "Despite every effort using the best science available, cutting edge technology, as well as modeling and advice from highly skilled professionals who are the best in their field, unfortunately, the search has not been able to locate the aircraft."

At the news conference, Chester was asked what "credible evidence" would be.

"We'll know it when we see it," he said.

He's hoping that new technologies, improved analysis of data, and better equipment would lead to solving what he calls an "extraordinary aviation mystery.

"I am hopeful we'll have a breakthrough in the future," he said. "It's reasonable to expect there may be more debris uncovered in the weeks and months and possibly even years ahead which could lead to further information in solving this puzzle."

Chester said the cost hadn't been the "deciding factor" in the decision to suspen.

"There's no question this has been a very costly exercise -- in the order of 200 million Australian dollars has been spent on the underwater search effort of which 60 million dollars has been provided by the Australian government, and the Malaysian government has contributed more than anyone else in that regard," he said.

"So it has been a costly exercise but it hasn't been the factor which has led to the decisions to suspend the search. We are in a position where we don't want to provide false hope to families and friends."

He stressed that there has been a "very limited amount of actual data that experts were dealing with."

"The fact that we haven't located the aircraft in the 120,000-squar-kilometer highest probability search area would indicate the aircraft is not in that area."

Greg Hood, chief commissioner for the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, told reporters that "residual search-related activity is continuing" until February.

He said the ATSB would continue to analyze satellite imagery for any signs of MH370 as well as any debris that may be linked to the missing plane.

Voice370, a support group for family members of those aboard the flight, released a statement expressing disappointment over the suspension.

"Commercial planes cannot just be allowed to disappear without a trace," the statement said.

"Stopping at this stage is nothing short of irresponsible, and betrays a shocking lack of faith in the data, tools and recommendations of an array of official experts assembled by the authorities themselves."

Steve Wang, whose mother was on board the flight, told CNN he was disappointed the search had ended with few, if any, answers.

"They said they are quite sure that they are searching the right place, but it seems that they are wrong," he said.

"I think it is their responsibility, not only for the 239 passengers on the plane, or for the next of kin like us, but also they have to give an answer to the whole world ... what really happened to MH370."

Chester said members of families he spoke to "in the last 24 hours" had been "very understanding of the decision that has been reached by the three governments" during their "emotional time."

"Some were aware that we were approaching the completion of the priority search area (and) they were very thankful to the ATSB and the experts and the searchers for the work they've done. They were very appreciative of the Australian government's effort and understood the decision."

By the numbers 26 -- Countries involved in search 151 -- Estimated cost of search in millions of U.S. dollars 239 -- Crew and passengers on MH370 1,046 -- Days MH370 missing when search ended 6,000 -- Meters deep in parts of the ocean searched 120,000 -- Square kilometers in final search area 4,600,000 -- Square kilometers in original search area Source: Joint Agency Coordination Centre

Multiple family members of those who were on the plane told CNN they received a text message from Malaysia Airlines informing them about a briefing in Beijing at 9 a.m. local time.

In a statement, the airline said it "stands guided" by the decision to suspend the search, which it described as a "thorough and comprehensive effort."

The company shares "in the sorrow" that the search was not successful, the statement said.

The plane's disappearance remains one of the greatest aviation mysteries in modern history.

Searchers spent millions of dollars scouring tens of thousands of square miles, but so far have yielded little new information about the plane's final moments.

In July last year, Australia, China and Malaysia agreed that if the aircraft was not located by the time 120,000 square kilometers (46,000 square miles) had been covered, the search would be suspended.

"The decision came not lightly," Chester said at the time. "But in the absence of new credible evidence it is not possible to continue searching. Every effort has been made. We have used the most high tech and the best people for this search."

The Tuesday statement said that vessel was not located in the 120,000 square kilometer search area.

What we do know

At 12:41 a.m. local time on March 8, 2014, MH370 departed Kuala Lumpur International Airport for Beijing. It was heading north but after its last message of "Good night Malaysian Three Seven Zero," it changed course toward the west, according to military radar.

From there, investigators believe it turned south around the edge of Indonesia and across the vast Indian Ocean.

Investigators confirmed in July that MH370 captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah had tracked a route deep into the Indian Ocean on his home flight simulator, very similar to the one officials believe the missing plane took.

Photos: Remembering the passengers of MH370 There is still no way to know for sure why Flight MH370 ended, but we are learning more about the lives of those on board. CNN is remembering them through snapshots shared with us. Hide Caption 1 of 12 Photos: Remembering the passengers of MH370 Rodney and Mary Burrows were looking forward to becoming first-time grandparents after their return home to Australia. Hide Caption 2 of 12 Photos: Remembering the passengers of MH370 Australians Catherine and Robert Lawton were traveling with friends on vacation when the flight disappeared. Hide Caption 3 of 12 Photos: Remembering the passengers of MH370 Paul Weeks was traveling to Mongolia for a new job as an engineer. His wife says Paul left behind his watch and his wedding ring before the trip, in case anything happened to him while he was away. Anderson spoke with Paul's brother & sister who said they are coping by spending time together as a family. Hide Caption 4 of 12 Photos: Remembering the passengers of MH370 Chandrika Sharma, left, was on Flight 370; her daughter Meghna and husband K.S. Narendran wait patiently, trying to manage their anxiety and longing for her return. Hide Caption 5 of 12 Photos: Remembering the passengers of MH370 Muktesh Mukherjee and Xiaomo Bai had been vacationing in Vietnam and were on their way home to their two young sons in Beijing. Hide Caption 6 of 12 Photos: Remembering the passengers of MH370 76-year-old Liu Rusheng, an accomplished calligrapher and one of the oldest passengers on the flight, was in Malaysia to attend an art exhibition with his wife. Hide Caption 7 of 12 Photos: Remembering the passengers of MH370 Teens Hadrien Wattrelos and Zhao Yan are shown in a photo on Wattrelos' Facebook page. The photo is captioned, simply, "I love you," in French. Hide Caption 8 of 12 Photos: Remembering the passengers of MH370 Firman Chandra Siregar, 24, studied electrical engineering in Indonesia and was on his way to Beijing on board Flight 370 to start a new job at an oil company. Hide Caption 9 of 12 Photos: Remembering the passengers of MH370 Patrick Francis Gomes, center, was the in-flight supervisor for the missing plane. His daughter describes him as a quiet person with a sense of humor. Hide Caption 10 of 12 Photos: Remembering the passengers of MH370 Ch'ng Mei Ling, a Malaysian citizen who lives in Pennsylvania, is a process engineer at a chemical company. Hide Caption 11 of 12 Photos: Remembering the passengers of MH370 We do not have photos of all 239 passengers, but we wanted to remember that there are loved ones around the world missing them right now. View CNN's complete coverage of Flight 370. Hide Caption 12 of 12

Grandparents, a newly graduated engineer, a young couple and a 2-year-old boy were among the hundreds of people on board MH370 when it vanished.

Most of the passengers and crew were from China and Malaysia, but individuals and families from 14 different countries were also on board the missing flight.

Theories

Based on some of the wreckage that's been found, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau determined the wing flaps had been stowed when MH370 crashed

The report suggested the plane had been out of control, spiraling downward at a rate of almost 300 miles per hour at its last satellite transmission.

These findings suggested "two early hypotheses," according to CNN aviation analyst Mary Schiavo; either that a fire on board the plane incapacitated everyone through smoke or fumes, or that a rapid decompression, perhaps because of a breach in a window, led to their deaths hours before the plane ran out of fuel and spiraled downward.

JUST WATCHED Search for flight MH370 suspended Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Search for flight MH370 suspended 02:43

But investigators still haven't been able to say for sure what caused the crash, and, unfortunately, according to O'Neill and Associates aviation expert Peter Goelz, the debris discovered has so far done little to enlighten authorities -- or the victims' families -- as to what exactly happened.

"All it tells us is what we suspected, in that the plane crashed somewhere in the South Indian Ocean," he told CNN in November. "At some time in the future there will be a quantum leap forward in the ability to look underneath the sea and someone will find it. But that's not for decades," Goelz said. "I think at some point, they'll find it -- it's too big a mystery. But the technology we have now, we can't do it easily or cheaply."

The high-detection devices exploring for MH-370 discovered two shipwrecks during the search -- one some 200 years old and another shipwreck also from the 1800s -- discoveries that give scientists hope that improved technology can one day detect the missing plane.

There's also the possibility that the search teams were looking in the wrong place , according to an Australian government report released in December.

The report recommended that, based on new analysis, a new area to the northeast of the current search area should be searched, approximately 25,000 square kilometers.

However, Australian Transport Minister Chester said the search would not be extended without new evidence.

What's been found

Multiple countries and companies have been involved in the extensive search, which has taken place along a defined arc in the Southern Indian Ocean, where the plane made its last satellite transmission.

Three pieces of the missing plane found off the coast of Africa have been confirmed as coming from MH370, using specific identification numbers.

Photos: MH370 debris Malaysia Airlines flight 370 disappeared on March 8, 2014. As of October 2016, authorities have definitively linked three pieces of debris to the plane, while four other pieces are believed to "almost certainly" come from the missing aircraft. A flaperon from a Boeing 777 was found on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean in July 2015. Authorities later confirmed the debris came from MH370. Hide Caption 1 of 7 Photos: MH370 debris Two pieces of debris were found in Mozambique, in December 2015 and February 2016. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said both pieces "almost certainly" came from the missing plane. Hide Caption 2 of 7 Photos: MH370 debris An examination of stenciling and other identifiable features were used to link the debris to MH370. Hide Caption 3 of 7 Photos: MH370 debris Two more pieces of debris, found in March 2016, were also deemed to have "almost certainly" come from MH370, according to the ATSB. Hide Caption 4 of 7 Photos: MH370 debris One piece is believed to be from the plane's Rolls Royce engine, while the other matched a Boeing 777 interior closet panel. Hide Caption 5 of 7 Photos: MH370 debris A piece of aircraft debris found in Tanzania in June 2016 and transported to Australia. The country's Infrastructure and Transport minister said it was confirmed as coming from MH370 in September 2016. Hide Caption 6 of 7 Photos: MH370 debris A left outboard flap trailing edge section found on the island of Mauritius in May 2016. In October , it was confirmed as coming from MH370. Hide Caption 7 of 7

The ATSB said six other pieces of wreckage found off the African coast were likely to have come from the missing plane, but this wasn't confirmed.

In total, 20 pieces of debris have been brought to the attention of the investigative team.

But those pieces of detritus have not given closure to those whose loved ones remain missing.

"The people who are living with you more than 20 years, and they leave suddenly," Wang said. "We just want them to give us more information. I think there (is) still something, we don't know."</s>(WIAT) — The search for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 is suspended. Officials say they completed their search in the Indian Ocean and there is no evidence to warrant continued looking.

The Boeing 777 disappeared nearly three years ago with 239 passengers and crew members on board.</s>The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 threatens to remain one of the great unsolved aviation mysteries as authorities call off the search after nearly three fruitless years. Photo: Getty

CANBERRA, Australia—The nearly three-year search to resolve one of history’s biggest aviation mysteries ended on Tuesday the same way it began: with the barest of clues over what happened to missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

The Australian government, which led the search with help from China and Malaysia, said the chances of finding the airliner have grown increasingly unlikely amid a lack of credible new evidence. It stopped...</s>The search for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has ended after nearly three years, the Joint Agency Co-ordination Centre in Australia has said.

Crews have finally completed their deep-sea search of a desolate stretch of the Indian Ocean without finding a single trace of the plane.

The centre said on Tuesday that the search had officially been suspended after crews finished their fruitless sweep of the 46,000-square mile search zone west of Australia.

The end of the hunt raises the prospect that the world’s greatest aviation mystery may never be solved.

READ MORE - Pilot of missing Malaysian plane plotted Indian ocean course

For the families of the 239 people on board, the suspension of the search is particularly bitter following a recent acknowledgement by officials that they had been looking for the plane in the wrong place.</s>The search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has come to an end with passengers’ families being informed that the effort to find the plane has been suspended.

Next of kin were told in an emailed statement on Tuesday that Australian authorities’ underwater search of 120,000 sq km in the southern Indian ocean had concluded without success.

The search had been ongoing for more than two years.

The MH370 Tripartite Joint Communiqué seen by the Guardian was co-signed by the transport ministers of Malaysia, China and Australia, representing the three countries involved in the search. It was made public at 2pm Malaysia time.

“Today the last search vessel has left the underwater search area. Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has not been located in the 120,000 square-kilometre underwater search area in the southern Indian Ocean,” it read.

“Despite every effort using the best science available, cutting edge technology, as well as modelling and advice from highly skilled professionals who are the best in their field, unfortunately, the search has not been able to locate the aircraft.

“The decision to suspend the underwater search has not been taken lightly nor without sadness.”

Flight MH370 disappeared on 8 March 2014, vanishing from radar shortly after take-off from Kuala Lumpar en route to Beijing. The plane is believed to have crashed in the Indian Ocean, claiming the lives of all 239 crew and passengers on board.



The announcement comes six weeks out from the third anniversary of the plane’s disappearance, with the underwater search effort led by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau in the so-called “seventh arc” since October 2014 concluding without success.

At a tripartite meeting in July 2016, the three transport ministers had acknowledged the “diminishing” likelihood of finding the plane. If the full 120,000 sq km area was searched without success, the effort was to “not end, but be suspended” indefinitely, they said – reiterating the earlier resolution made in April 2015.

In December, the ATSB said they had a “high degree of confidence” that the wreck would not be found in the tranche of Indian ocean originally pinpointed, instead highlighting a new area of approximately 25,000 sq km – between latitudes 33 degrees south and 36 degrees south – as “the area with the highest probability of containing the wreckage of the aircraft”.

The tripartite statement said Tuesday’s announcement was consistent with its decision made in July 2016.

“Whilst combined scientific studies have continued to refine areas of probability, to date no new information has been discovered to determine the specific location of the aircraft.”

The flight was carrying 152 Chinese nationals and 50 from Malaysia, as well as passengers from Australia, Canada, France, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, Taiwan, Ukraine and the United States.

Chandrika Sharma, of Chennai in India, was among the 239 people on board MH370.

“This decision appears premeditated and a betrayal of the commitment to the families and the public that the governments are committed to the search,” K S Narendran, her husband of 25 years, told the Guardian.

“It must also come as a blow to all this who have worked tirelessly to find answers and find the plane.”

A series of “pings” from what was believed to be one of the black boxes from the plane initially narrowed the search zone to a smaller region of the Indian Ocean. Australia’s then prime minister Tony Abbott and Malaysian transport minister Hishammuddin Hussein both suggested the plane was close to discovery weeks after the crash.

But the hunt for the plane quickly became one of the world’s greatest aviation mysteries after a lengthy aerial search yielded no results.



Following the exhaustive aerial survey, the search for the missing plane had a fourth-month hiatus while experts mapped the part of the ocean where the plane was believed to have crashed.

In October 2014 the Australian Transport Safety Bureau began a new phase for the search for MH370, an underwater search effort of 120,000 sq km of the Indian ocean floor.

The search has been a multimillion-dollar effort on the parts of Australia, Malaysia and China. The operation is believed to have cost around AU$180m, paid for by Australia and Malaysia. China donated AU$20m in funding and equipment.

Progress was frustrated by difficulties in reaching the search zone and the largely uncharted part of the Indian Ocean it was believed to have crashed in. The final 20,000 sq km in particular were delayed by poor weather conditions throughout 2016.

But investigators remained optimistic, with Martin Dolan, the head of the ATSB, expressing confidence in March 2016, the two-year anniversary of its disappearance, that the plane would be found within that 120,000 sq km area.

In July 2015 authorities had a breakthrough in the search, when they found debris on the island of Réunion that was later confirmed to be a flaperon from the flight.

Several more pieces of debris were confirmed to have come from MH370, including a wing flap found on an island off the coast of Tanzania in June and sent to Canberra for analysis that was found to be from a Boeing 777.

Investigators say the failure to find the wreckage does not mean all search efforts will end. But those seeking answers for the disappearance of the plane – and those on board – now face the prospect that the fate of MH370 might never be known.</s>In this March 6, 2016, file photo, well wishes are written on a wall of hope during a remembrance event for the ill fated Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Joint Agency Coordination Center in Australia said Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2017 that the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 had officially been suspended after crews finished their fruitless sweep of the 120,000-square kilometer search zone west of Australia.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Houston Chronicle.</s>The underwater search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has been called off nearly three years after the passenger jet disappeared off the radar. The plane went missing shortly after take-off on 8 March 2014 with 239 people on board. Investigators believe it crashed in the Indian Ocean en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The multimillion-dollar hunt was led by Australia, Malaysia and China</s>Three years after the mysterious disappearance of a Malaysian Airline flight MH370, the three countries collaborating in the search for the missing aircraft have announced a suspension of the search.

Flight MH370 disappeared en route to Beijing from the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur with 239 people on board and a statement from China, Malaysia and Australia who were leading search efforts disclosed, “Despite every effort using the best science available … the search has not been able to locate the aircraft,”

Much of the search has been focused on the Indian Ocean sea floor but the only debris of the plane were found washed up on Mauritius, the French island Reunion and an island off the coast of Tanzania.

A support group for the families of the victims called Voice 370 criticized the decision to halt the search. “In our view, extending the search to the new area defined by the experts is an inescapable duty owed to the flying public in the interest of aviation safety,” Voice 370 said.</s>Timeline of the 3-year search for missing Malaysia plane

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — The end of the deep-sea sonar search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 leaves the largest and most technologically challenging search in aviation history unresolved. Some of the key moments in the search:

March 8, 2014: Air traffic control loses contact with the plane 40 minutes into a flight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing. An air and sea search begins four hours later in the Gulf of Thailand and the South China Sea.

March 15, 2014: Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announces that Flight 370 was tracked by military radar doubling back across the Strait of Malacca and was sending satellite signals seven and a half hours after takeoff. The aircraft then flew either northwest toward central Asia as far as Kazakhstan or southwest over the southern Indian Ocean. Signal analysis quickly ruled out the northern flight path.

April 8, 2014: An Australian ship towing a U.S. Navy listening device hears two signals consistent with Flight 370's flight recorders west of Australia. Submerged a month, the recorders are near the end of their battery lives. "I'm now optimistic that we will find the aircraft, or what is left of the aircraft, in the not-too-distant future," search coordinator Angus Houston says. When the initial sonar search yields nothing, it's expanded to an area of 60,000 square kilometers (23,000 square miles).

April 28, 2014: The air search ends after failing to see a single piece of debris in 4.6 million square kilometers (1.8 million square miles) of ocean.

May 28, 2014: The underwater survey near where the acoustic signals were detected ends, with investigators concluding the area is not the final resting place of Flight 370 and they may never know the signals' origins.

June 26, 2014: Officials announce that Flight 370 most likely crashed southwest of the most recently suspected crash site, about 1,800 kilometers (1,100 miles) off Australia's west coast. The new 60,000-square kilometer (23,000-square mile) search area falls within the waters already searched by air, to no avail.

Aug. 28, 2014: The search area is refined south after analysis of a failed attempted satellite phone call to Flight 370 suggests the plane turned south earlier than previously thought.

Jan. 29, 2015: Malaysia formally declares Flight 370 an accident and says all 239 people on board are presumed dead, upsetting families but letting them obtain death certificates and start legal claims.

March 8, 2015: Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott doubles the area of the search to 120,000 square kilometers (46,000 square miles). Still, only 40 percent of the original zone has been searched. "It can't go on forever, but as long as there are reasonable leads, the search will go on," Abbott said. "We are reasonably confident of finding the plane."

March 10, 2015: The sonar search discovers the wreck of a 19th century cargo ship nearly 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) below the surface.

July 29, 2015: A wing part known as a flaperon found on Reunion Island, east of Madagascar, is confirmed as the first piece of the Boeing 777 to be recovered. More than 20 pieces certainly or highly likely to be parts of Flight 370 have since been found on coastlines throughout the Indian Ocean.

Dec. 19, 2015: The sonar search discovers a second shipwreck from the 19th century.

July 28, 2016: Australian officials confirm that data recovered from a home flight simulator owned by Flight 370 captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah showed that someone had used the device to plot a course to the southern Indian Ocean, bolstering speculation that he stole the plane in a premeditated plot.

Dec. 20, 2016: The Australian Transport Safety Bureau releases a report that says Flight 370 is unlikely to be in the 120,000 square kilometers (46,000 square miles) that has been almost completely searched and is more likely in a 25,000-square kilometer (9,700-square mile) area immediately to the north.</s>SYDNEY (AP) – After nearly three years, the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has ended in futility. Crews have finally completed their deep-sea search of a desolate stretch of the Indian Ocean without finding a single trace of the plane.

The Joint Agency Coordination Center in Australia said Tuesday that the search had officially been suspended after crews finished their fruitless sweep of the 120,000-square kilometer (46,000-square mile) search zone west of Australia.

The end of the hunt raises the prospect that the world’s greatest aviation mystery may never be solved. For the families of the 239 people on board, the suspension of the search is particularly bitter following a recent acknowledgment by officials that they had been looking for the plane in the wrong place.
The underwater search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has been suspended.