Australia, Malaysia, and China have announced that the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 has been suspended.

"Today the last search vessel has left the underwater search area.  Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has not been located in the 120,000 square-kilometer underwater search area in the southern Indian Ocean," read the joint communique signed by the transport ministers of all three nations, emailed to the families of passengers.  "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."

MH370 disappeared in March 2014, veering from its scheduled Kuala Lumpur to Beijing route into the Indian Ocean.  Most of the 239 passengers and crew were Chinese and Malaysian, but among them were six Australians.  Others were from Canada, France, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, Taiwan, Ukraine, and the United States.

Why and how the Boeing 777-200 deviated so far from its course is still a mystery.  Despite the underwater search led by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, the only evidence of the plane's eventual fate is what washed up on beaches off of Africa's Indian Ocean shore - including a flaperon found on Reunion Island in July 2015.