AirAsia Flight QZ8501: relatives plunged into mourning as graphic images of ... - Telegraph.co.uk

“When I saw the red and white fragments I knew my son was no longer alive.”

The gruesome images filled his head with horror.

^{Family members of passengers react after watching news reports showing an unidentified body floating in the Java sea. Photo: MANAN VATSYAYANA/AFP/Getty Images}

“I suddenly imagined my son in the water like that,” the 60-year-old said, raising his arms in the air to impersonate one of the bloated cadavers shown on television. “What if that was my son? I lost all my hope.” Witjaksono, who like many Indonesians has just one name, was one of hundreds of relatives plunged into mourning on Tuesday as authorities confirmed that the AirAsia flight had been found and began pulling dozens of bodies from a crash site in the Java Sea, off the southwest corner of Borneo.

“I can’t really put into words how I feel right now,” Tony Fernandes, AirAsia’s owner, said at Surabaya’s international airport, where relatives including Witjaksono had been waiting for news for more than two days.

The wreckage of AirAsia’s missing Airbus passenger jet had in fact been discovered more than 36 hours earlier when Mohammed Taha, a 38-year-old fisherman, saw red and white metal objects in the water but dismissed them as ocean junk.

^{Debris from the crash found floating in the Java Sea (EPA)}

Only when Mr Taha returned to his village on Monday night did he understand the grim significance of what he had seen and report it to police. An aerial search was launched at first light and by 8am, that unexplained debris had been found.

First came reports that objects resembling a plane’s door and emergency exit had been spotted, then that a plane-shaped “shadow” had been seen under the surface of the water.

Finally came the macabre news that bodies had also been sighted, in waters about 80 to 100 feet deep, some six miles from Flight QZ8501’s last known location.

“We thought the passengers were still alive and were waving at us for help,” Tri Wibowo, a co-pilot of one of the search planes, told the Indonesian newspaper Kompas. “But when we came nearer we saw they were already dead.” Confirmation of that gruesome find reached Surabaya airport’s family room a few hours later, in the worst possible way.

^{Debris found in search for missing AirAsia plane}

For all the afternoon’s appalling revelations, some continued to insist their relatives could have survived.

“I still hope they are safe because I have had no specific news about them ” said Ifan Joko, 54, who had six relatives on the plane, including his son. “I am still optimistic,” he added, although his blood-shot eyes told a different story.

A few hours later, Indonesia’s president touched down on the runway from which flight QZ8501 had made its final take-off. He brought confirmation that its passengers would not be coming home.

^{Relatives of passengers on AirAsia flight QZ 8501 console each other (Getty)}

“I am so sorry and sad for this accident,” Joko Widodo, the president, said after meeting with relatives. “I hope the families can stay strong while facing this tragedy.” The “immediate focus” was bringing back the corpses of the victims of QZ8501, the president said. “We have to evacuate them as soon as possible.” As the president spoke, vessels carrying helicopters, divers and body bags were converging on the crash site. But foggy weather, darkness and treacherous waves up to nine feet tall made that a complex task, he warned.

At a press conference on the island of Borneo, rescue officials began exhibiting objects plucked from the Java Sea including the turquoise suitcase of one of the 17 children on the plane.

^{AP Photo/Dewi Nurcahyani}

Tony Fernandes wiped a tear from his eye as he prepared to face the media with confirmation of the disaster. “Inside I am pretty broken up,” he said.

The Malaysian entrepreneur refused to speculate on how and why the plane had come down but suggested weather was a likely cause. “The weather in Southeast Asia is bad at the moment,” he said.

“I apologise profusely for what has happened,” Mr Fernandes added. “The passengers were on my aircraft and I have to take responsibility for that.” The AirAsia boss will fly to the crash site on Wednesday but relatives have been advised to remain in Surabaya until the remains of their loved-ones can be brought back.

Witjaksono, the bereaved father, said he would stay at the airport caring for his devastated wife. “I told my wife: 'Just pray. All we can do is believe.’ I am happy and proud of the search and rescue workers,” he added. “They gave us certainty.”

^{US Navy to ramp up efforts to find AirAsia passengers}