A Young Korean Missionary Family Was Among the Victims of AirAsia QZ8501 Tragedy

A young Korean family of Christian missionaries was among the victims who were on board the ill-fated AirAsia flight QZ8501 from Indonesia en route to Singapore.  

Park Seong-beom, 37, his wife, Lee Kyung-hwa, and their 11-month-old daughter, Park Yuna, relocated to Indonesia in September where they had been doing missionary work. They were teaching Korean and computer skills in the town of Malang, in the East Java province and were traveling to Singapore to renew their visas but sadly met their fatal end, according The Wall Street Journal.

Searchers have found three bodies on Wednesday morning including a flight attendant still wearing her AirAsia uniform, bringing the total to six so far, said the head of the search and rescue agency, Fransiskus Bambang Soelistyo. An official from Indonesia's search and rescue agency said a sonar image showed a large, dark object under the sea which was presumed to be the missing AirAsia plane.

"It's about 30 to 50 metres under water," said the official, Hernanto.

Aviation experts believe that, weather permitting, the fuselage may be easily found by divers as the aircraft probably only broke up when it hit the water.

Fully clothed bodies could also indicate the plane was intact when it hit the water and support a theory that the Airbus A320-200 suffered an aerodynamic stall and plunged into the sea.

"The fact that the debris appears fairly contained suggests the aircraft broke up when it hit the water, rather than in the air," said Neil Hansford, a former pilot and chairman of consultancy firm Strategic Aviation Solutions.

 

 

 

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