The human toll from the Air Asia Flight 8501 crash is marked by harrowing tales of loss – while some family’s were saved by lucky twists of fate.
As searchers recovered bodies from the downed Airbus A320 and investigators began their painstaking probe, relatives and loved ones offered touching glimpses into the lives of some of the 162 people who perished in the disaster.
Chiara Natasha, 15, who lost her entire family, had moved to Singapore in November to study at the Methodist Girls’ School.
Her parents and two brothers were on the way to visit her to celebrate the new year and help her settle into her dorm, said her aunt, Linda Patricia.
Chiara flew back to Surabaya on Sunday when Flight 8501 went missing – waiting for news and praying that her family survived. She was shocked and inconsolable when she heard that bodies and debris had been found.
Chiara’s brother, Nico Giovanni, 17, also a student in Singapore, returned to Surabaya for the holidays, Linda said. Her other brother was 9-year-old Justin Giovanni.
Her father, Herumanto Tanus, 46, was an accountant and her mother, Indahju Liongsih, was a homemaker.
“We are all heartbroken and Chiara still finds it hard to accept” her family members’ deaths, Linda said. “I am thankful that the plane has been found. My only hope is that all their bodies will be found and evacuated no matter what the condition is so that we can have a proper closure.”
Chiara plans to return to Singapore to continue her studies.
“In Singapore is her future,” Linda said.
The tragedy struck Surabaya’s Christian community very hard.
Philip Mantofa, pastor of the Mawar Sharon Church in Surabaya, was shocked when he found out that 41 of the victims were from his church.
Mantofa led a service Wednesday at the Surabaya airport.
“Some things do not make sense to us but God is bigger than all this,” he said.
One of the relatives, Linca Gonimasela, lost her 13-year-old son, Adrian Fernando, who was traveling to Singapore with his aunt, uncle and their 3-year-old daughter.
“He is my only son,” Linca said. “At first he didn’t want to go but later on he was persuaded to join them for the New Year holidays.”
Accountant Lina Soetanto, 24, surprised her mother, Ang Mie Jong, with white roses for her 52nd birthday just a week before the crash.
Ang had suffered shoulder pain and Lina had a urinary tract infection, Ang’s best friend Susilowati said. They were on their way to Singapore for medical check-ups.
Ang took her 12-year-old niece Thurza Aureliza along with her for the trip.
“Indonesia is crying,” said Pastor Hanny Lawantara of the Happy Family Center Church, which Lina attended.
Frenchman Remi Plesel quit his job as an engineer for energy company Total a few years ago so he could learn to fly.
Plesel, who had earned 2,275 flying hours with AirAsia, lived in Indonesia for three years, his sister, Renee, told France’s RTL radio.
“Aviation was his passion and he was able to make it real,” she said. “He told me that things were going well, that he’d had a good Christmas. He was happy. The rains were starting, the weather was bad, it was raining a lot. He was going to work the next day.”
Two other families, meanwhile, are thankful that missed emails and an illness in a family — kept their 15 loved ones from boarding the doomed flight, CNN reported.
Inge Goreti Ferdiningsih said that her family canceled their tickets a day before the disaster because her father caught hepatitis.
“We are extremely grateful, and God is really great,” said Inge Goreti, who had planned on flying with her husband and three kids, according to CNN. “I believe that God is saving and protecting us, and this is truly a miracle.”
Her sister took their father to a hospital, where he was diagnosed with hepatitis after suffering stomach pains.
“I had this feeling in my heart that I wanted to be with my dad,’ Inge Goreti said.
Another family was apparently spared because of missed phone messages.
Christianawati was going to celebrate the New Year in Singapore with nine members of her family and her brother’s family, she told a French news agency, CNN reported.
Her brother forgot to check messages from AirAsia informing them that the flight was leaving two hours earlier than scheduled.
“They emailed and called us on December 15 and 16 to inform us but we missed those calls,” Christianawati told Agence France-Presse.
“So we arrived at the airport to check in for the 7:30 a.m. flight but were told our flights had been rescheduled to 5:30 a.m., and we were late. Of course we were angry,” she said.
They later heard the tragic news.
“Maybe it is all God’s plan that my family and I were not on the flight,” Christianawati said. “It was a blessing in disguise.”
