French investigators say they have abandoned a search in the Atlantic Ocean for the black boxes from Air France Flight 447.

The Airbus jet crashed June 1 into the ocean en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, killing all 228 people aboard.

The French accident investigation agency says in a statement that the research ship leading the hunt for the plane's black box flight recorders left the site and was to arrive in Dakar, Senegal on Thursday.

The statement says the second phase of search efforts focusing on the underwater hunt for the black boxes "has finished." It says investigators and experts will gather in the coming weeks to determine whether to launch a third phase.

No details about the possible third phase were provided.