Grief dominates atmosphere at airport

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The happiness of seeing loved ones arrive safely at the airport had been stolen from them.

Dozens of relatives and friends of passengers of the ill-fated Mandala jet that crashed in Medan on Monday morning gathered in front of the Mandala ticketing box and the crisis center at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport to register for free flights to Medan.

Mandala Airline dedicated two of its flights for relatives of plane crash victims at 2:45 p.m. and 5 p.m.

The airline set up a crisis center with a large white board on which was listed the names of victims as well as information, all of which was updated minute by minute.

Families and relatives of victims started arriving to register at 11 a.m., less than an hour after the plane crashed.

In disbelief, Zulbahri, the husband of one deceased victim, Rosidah Tambunan, said his wife had called him and asked him to pick her at Gambir Railway Station in Central Jakarta minutes before takeoff.

"But when I was on my way to Gambir, some friends told me about the crash that took away my wife's life," he sighed.

Tati, 50, older sister of victim Atnan Jaya, said her brother had initially booked to fly to Jakarta with Garuda on Tuesday.

She said that Atnan missed his family very much and had decided to depart one day ahead of schedule.

"I want to go home today. I miss my family very much," she quoted her brother as saying over the phone.

Atnan, who was a manager of veteran singer Victor Hutabarat, was given a seat on the plane initially booked by Agus Sahputra, who missed the flight.

Atnan's wife Marliana was among families registering to fly to Medan on a Mandala aircraft.

As of 4 p.m., at least 71 families were registered to fly to Medan to identify and bring home the bodies of loved ones.

The operations and technical director of airport operator PT Angkasa Pura, I Gusti Made Ahdordy, said no Jakarta-Medan or Medan-Jakarta flights had been delayed due to the crash.

"All other flights remain on time. There are no delays," he asserted.