The joint statement reiterated the aspiration to find the missing plane had not ended, but the search will suspend upon completion of the current 120,000 square kilometre search area.
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Transport ministers from Australia, China and Malaysia, meeting in Putrajaya, Malaysia, announced the search for Flight 370 will be suspended if the current search of almost 50,000 square miles of the Indian Ocean yields no information.
The captain of missing flight MH370 practised crashing into the Indian Ocean on a simulator weeks before his plane disappeared, confidential police documents reveal.
About 20 percent of the designated search area, or about 3,800 square miles, remains unexplored.
“The debris’ drift modelling showed us that it is from that particular area, so we are still confident we are looking in the right area”, said Mr Liow.
She said no matter how bad there must be a clue.
The search will be suspended if nothing turns up in the current area, officials say. The Voice 370 statement was issued as as transport ministers from Australia, China and Malaysia prepared for a meeting Friday that may dictate how much longer the search continues.
Jacquita Gonzales, the wife of MH370 steward Patrick Gomes, said China and Malaysia had not contributed enough to the search effort, which is coordinated by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.
Some families remained hopeful and called for the three countries to actively seek new angles to resolve the mystery, while some reacted with anger.
Grace, whose mother was on board flight MH370, also said suggestions by a Dutch company involved in the current underwater search that the focus may be in the wrong area should prompt officials to “reassess’ and “even re-start” the search”.
Media captionDarren Chester, Australian Transport Minister: “A further search is not now viable”.
The search, which has covered over 110,000sq km in the Indian Ocean, is now on hold due to bad weather and damage to equipment, but Liow said it was expected to resume in October.
MH370 disappeared in March, 2014 during a flight from Beijing which was carrying 239 people.
It is unclear what steps would be taken once the search was suspended. The search area was determined by analysis of satellite signals that the plane emitted in its final hours.
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Griffin’s advice led Gibson to a second Madagascar island where he found the potential debris that he brought to Malaysia.
