The location of flight MH370 is still a mystery, after authorities on Thursday said the area considered the most likely zone where the missing plane had landed "could now be discounted".

An area in the Indian Ocean had been the prime search target because of the detection of acoustic pings believed to be from the plane's black box. But the Joint Agency Coordination Center said in a statement that the search of the zone had been completed without any further signs of MH370.

The Malaysian Airlines flight, with 239 passengers and crew on board, disappeared on March 8th on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.