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AIR ASIA TRAGEDY With a heavy heart, the report published in a local News Paper on the recent Air Asia Tragedy is appended for the interested readers to read. Let us pray for the departed souls and also for those who have lost their dear and near ones in this tragedy. Air Asia plane's wreckage found 40 bodies recovered off Indonesian coast; media criticized for showing live footage Indonesian rescuers searching for an Air Asia plane carrying 162 people pulled bodies and wreckage from the sea off the coast of Borneo yesterday, prompting relatives of those on board watching TV footage to break down in tears. Indonesia Air Asia's Flight QZ8501, an Airbus A320-200, lost contact with air traffic control early on Sunday during bad weather on a flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore. The navy said 40 bodies had been recovered. The plane has yet to be found. "My heart is filled with sadness for all the families involved in QZ8501," airline boss Tony Fernandez tweeted. "On behalf of Air Asia, my condolences to all. Words cannot express how sorry I am." The airline said in a statement that it was inviting family members to Surabaya, "where a dedicated team of care providers will be assigned to each family to ensure that all of their needs are met". Pictures of floating bodies were broadcast on television and relatives of the missing already gathered at a crisis center in Surabaya wept with heads in their hands. Several people collapsed in grief and were helped away. "You have to be strong," the mayor of Surabaya, Tri Rismaharini, said as she comforted relatives. "They are not ours, they belong to God." A navy spokesman said a plane door, oxygen tanks and one body had been recovered and taken away by helicopter for tests, reports Reuters. "The challenge is waves up to three meters high," Fransiskus Bambang Soelistyo, head of the Search and Rescue Agency, told reporters, adding that the search operation would go on all night. He declined to answer questions on whether any survivors had been found. About 30 ships and 21 aircraft from Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and the United States have been involved in the search. Media stations have been criticized for showing split-screen footage of distraught families as they were watched live footage of bodies from missing Air Asia flight being recovered from the water, reports Independent. TV One, an Indonesian news channel, screened images from rescue crews as they encountered the debris and bodies found earlier yesterday in the Java Sea, off the coast on Borneo, on a split screen interposed with live reaction from the families of passengers. In Surabaya airport where the passengers' family were gathered in a 'crisis center', six giant flat screen TVs were reported to have played the footage immediately emerging from the scene of discovery. Similar footage was later picked up by other channels and broadcast around Indonesia and South-east Asia. Channel Asia later tweeted an apology to its users after “inadvertently” airing similar footage showing the debris and what appeared to be bodies to its viewers. Social media users reacted angrily to the actions of the media stations, with many scarcely able to believe what they were seeing. The plane, which did not issue a distress signal, disappeared after its pilot failed to get permission to fly higher to avoid bad weather because of heavy air traffic, officials said. It was traveling at 32,000 feet and had asked to fly at 38,000 feet, officials said earlier. Pilots and aviation experts said thunderstorms, and requests to gain altitude to avoid them, were not unusual in that area. The Indonesian pilot was experienced and the plane last underwent maintenance in mid-November, the airline said. The aircraft had accumulated about 23,000 flight hours in some 13,600 flights, according to Airbus. Online discussion among pilots has centered on unconfirmed secondary radar data from Malaysia that suggested the aircraft was climbing at a speed of 353 knots, about 100 knots too slow, and that it might have stalled. The plane, whose engines were made by CFM International, co-owned by General Electric and Safran of France, lacked real-time engine diagnostics or monitoring, a GE spokesman said. Such systems are mainly used on long-haul flights and can provide clues to airlines and investigators when things go wrong. Three airline disasters involving Malaysian-affiliated carriers in less than a year have dented confidence in the country's aviation industry and spooked travelers across the region. Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 went missing on March 8 on a trip from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew on board and has not been found. On July 17, the same airline's Flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board. Bizarrely, an Air Asia plane from Manila skidded off and overshot the runway on landing at Kalibo in the central Philippines yesterday. No one was hurt. On board Flight QZ8501 were 155 Indonesians, three South Koreans, and one person each from Singapore, Malaysia and Britain. The co-pilot was French. US law enforcement and security officials said passenger and crew lists were being examined but nothing significant had turned up and the incident was regarded as an unexplained accident. Indonesia Air Asia is 49 percent owned by Malaysia-based budget carrier Air Asia. The Air Asia group, including affiliates in Thailand, the Philippines and India, had not suffered a crash since its Malaysian budget operations began in 2002. Source: Agency Report. The Daily Star           |
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I'm heartbroken !!
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No doubt about it, Lulu QC. Let us pray for the lost souls.
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Wish and pray, such tragic event never happens again. Very much appreciate your comments too.
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Boogie. I was also speechless for some moments when I listened to the news on TV. My immediate reaction was to compare the area with Bermuda Triangle ! The dead souls now belong to God. However I feel sad for the families of the lost passengers and crews of the plane! Hope and pray that God give them enough strength to bear the loss.
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God is merciful. He bestows His blessing on dead and alive equally, I guess. The lost passengers and crews of the ill fated plane will receive His blessings no doubt!
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Hello Looklook, Am here again to leave my comments on this blog of yours, which is for sure, a very sad case and heartbreaking of course. Though we can't do much for them but remembering them in our prayers for their souls to rest in peace, is one of our participation in their grievance. Thanks for this blog which is very much appreciated. My best wishes to you Looklook. From .........Lisa.
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Hello Looklook, Am here again to leave my comments on this blog of yours, which is for sure, a very sad case and heartbreaking of course. Though we can't do much for them but remembering them in our prayers for their souls to rest in peace, is one of our participation in their grievance. Thanks for this blog which is very much appreciated. My best wishes to you Looklook. From .........Lisa. I am very much happy and delighted to see you back here on my blog and also for leaving a comment there on. The event was no doubt sad and once again reminded us how limited are the human capabilities! We humans can not control an event from happening. Let us pray for those who perished and let they rest in peace. Kindest personal Regards,Lisa from me....... looklook.
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