- All planes are returning to Perth, Australian authorities say
- Search teams in the area have been "beaten up" by the weather, a U.S. official says
- He cites poor visibility, severe turbulence and icing
- This is the second time this week that search efforts have been suspended
Perth, Australia (CNN) -- Bad weather brought an early end to Thursday's search for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in the southern Indian Ocean, authorities said.
"All planes are returning to Perth & ships are leaving search area," the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said on Twitter, referring to the western Australian city where search teams are based.
A U.S. P8 aircraft that was scheduled to take off for the search area has been grounded along with other planned departures, said Lt. Comm. Adam Schantz of the U.S. Navy.
The search teams that have been out over the remote area of ocean Thursday have been "beaten up," he said.
The visibility is almost zero, with clouds reaching down to the surface of the water, as well as severe turbulence and icing, Schantz said. But search teams hope to be back in the air Friday if the weather clears, he added.
This is the second time this week that operations have been put on hold because of harsh conditions in the isolated patch of ocean roughly 1,500 miles southwest of Perth. No search missions took place on Tuesday because of stormy weather.
Citing an analysis of satellite data, Malaysian authorities say the plane, which disappeared March 8 over Southeast Asia with 239 people on board, ended its errant journey in the southern Indian Ocean.
But they still haven't been able to establish why it lost contact with air traffic control and flew so far off course.
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CNN's David Molko and Kyung Lah reported from Perth, and Jethro Mullen reported and wrote from Hong Kong. CNN's Elizabeth Joseph contributed to this report.
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