The admission from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau is an about turn from only a few months ago, when the search team said they were confident that the missing Boeing 777 would be located before the quest is brought to an end. The search is due to cease in July after funding from Malaysia, China and Australia ends.
ATSB chief commissioner Martin Dolan told Australian media that the search would only resume if significant new evidence was found – meaning that new debris washing up on Africa’s beaches would not be enough to prompt a resumption.
The only confirmed traces of the aircraft so far have been fragments of panels that have washed up on beaches in the Indian Ocean.
