The Brazil Air Force and Navy on Friday evening called off the search for additional victims and wreckage from Air France Flight 447 leaving relatives of the crash victims shocked and distraught.

Nelson Faria Marinho, father of one of the victims, told Folha that he was surprised with the decision to call off the search operations and “for as long as I do not see my son’s body to me he remains alive”.

“Not only myself but many families will be anguished [by this news], more than what they already are. This means that out of 288 occupants only 50 were found, that is too difficult and dramatic for us”, Folha reported.

Brazilian Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Henry Munhoz said the military was unlikely to find additional bodies and wreckage in the search area 26 days.

It's already been nine days without seeing any bodies, Munhoz said in a televised news conference.

French Navy ships will still however continue searching for signals of the crashed jet’s black boxes.

The Airbus A330 plane plunged into the Atlantic on May 31 after running into thunderstorms en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris killing all 228 people on board.