FIVE THINGS ABOUT FLIGHT 370

1 WHAT HAPPENED

After nearly three years, the hunt for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 ended in futility and frustration Tuesday, as crews completed their deepsea search of a desolate stretch of the Indian Ocean without finding a trace of the plane or the 239 people aboard. The Joint Agency Coordination Center in Australia, which helped lead the $200-million hunt for the Boeing 777 in remote waters west of Australia, said the search had officially been suspended after crews finished their fruitless sweep of the 120,000-square kilometre search zone.

2 WHY THEY QUIT

“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 agency said in a statement.

3 A FRUSTRATING THREE YEARS

Hopes were repeatedly raised and smashed by false leads: Underwater signals wrongly thought to be emanating from the plane’s black boxes; possible debris fields that turned out to be sea trash; oil slicks that contained no jet fuel.

4 RELATIVES RESPOND

A support group, Voice 370, said extending the search is “an inescapable duty owed to the flying public.” Without understanding what happened, there’s a “good chance that this could happen in the future,” said K.S. Narendran. Grace Nathan, a Malaysian whose mother was on board, said: “It continues to be frustrating and we just hope they will continue to search.”

5 COULD THE SEARCH RESTART?

There is the possibility a private donor could offer to bankroll a new search, or Malaysia will kick in fresh funds. But no one has stepped up yet, raising the bleak possibility that the world’s greatest aviation mystery may never be solved.