Stewardess’ family hopes body in AirAsia uniform is hers
AirAsia stewardess Khairunisa Haidar Fauzi (pic), who was on board QZ8501, wanted to celebrate the New Year in Surabaya, her father said.
Haidar said that was the last conversation he had with his 22-year-old daughter before she went to work for the last time.
Now the family is hoping her body has been found. They have accepted that she is gone.
Khairunisa's brother, M. Ikhsan Nul Kamil, told Indonesian news portal Detik.com that if the authorities had found the remains of a stewardess, based on the red AirAsia flight attendant uniform on the body, he hoped it would be his sister's.
"Kalau yang dimaksud pramugari, kami harap itu adik kami (If they are saying they have found the body of one of the air stewardess, then we hope it is our little sister)," Ikhsan told the news portal at the AirAsia crisis centre in Juanda, Surabaya, today.
The grieving man said the family, including parents, had accepted that Nisa, as Khairunisa was fondly called, was no longer with them.
"We are hanging on, being as strong as we can. We know she is gone," Ikhsan said.
Detik.com reported that DNA samples from her parents had been taken by the authorities for identification purpose.
He described Nisa as a cheerful person who got along easily with others, and was helpful and caring towards family members.
"She was a good girl, always liked to help others. I always asked for her help when I need it.
"But she was also 'manja' (spoiled) because she phoned home four times a day," Ikhsan said.
Khairunisa, who was the youngest among three children, was born in Palembang. She studied law at Universitas Sriwijaya and joined AirAsia last year.
Detik.com also reported that she was active on social media and had posted a photo with a handwritten message that read "I Love You from 38,000 ft" on Instagram two weeks ago before QZ8501 crashed.
The photo, which was likely taken at the window of a plane as it spotted the wing of an aircraft outside, has since gone viral with other social media users posting messages to her.
QZ8501 went missing early Sunday morning when it was flying to Singapore from Surabaya. There were 155 passengers and seven crew members on board.
Yesterday afternoon, Indonesian authorities announced that debris found floating in the Java Sea near Pangkalan Bun were from the missing plane, which was believed to have crashed because of bad weather.
During search from last night until this morning, search and rescue team pulled out three bodies – two men and one woman in stewardess attire. So far, no survivors have been found. – December 31, 2014.
