KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 17 ― The families of those aboard the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 urged Malaysia, China and Australia today to reconsider calling off the search for the plane that disappeared almost three years ago.

Voice370 said a report by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) had last month recommended the new search area to be 25,000 sq km north of the present one in the Southern Indian Ocean and urged authorities to continue the search in the new area.

The group representing the families said that it was an "inescapable duty” owed to the public and in the interest of aviation safety.

"Commercial planes cannot just be allowed to disappear without a trace. Having already searched 120,000 sq km, [and] 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.

"We appeal to Malaysia, China, and Australia to reconsider the decision to suspend the search,” it said in a statement.

Earlier today, the MH370 Tripartite Joint Communique signed by the transport ministers of Malaysia, Australia and China said that it had suspended the search for the aircraft, explaining that despite combined scientific studies to refine areas of probability, they found no new information to determine the specific location of the flight.

Authorities had previously said the search will end early this year.

The Malaysian Airlines jet disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014, carrying 239 passengers and crew.

It is believed that the plane crashed into the Indian Ocean, but an extensive deep-sea hunt off Australia’s west coast has failed to find a single piece of debris.

The ATSB, which had been leading the search mission, said in a report last month that the Boeing jet was almost certainly not in the current search zone and may be further north.

The report was based on a review of evidence by Australian and international experts.

However, the Australian government did not view the findings as credible.