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| After Crash of AirAsia Flight, Old Port City Has Sad New Role | |
| (about 9 hours later) | |
| SURABAYA, Indonesia — Ten-year-old Made Putri, known as Keisha, was so excited about her first trip abroad, a family vacation to Singapore and Malaysia, that she wore her favorite jacket when she boarded the plane at the airport here. | |
| It was red, with SpongeBob SquarePants printed on the front, a birthday present from her grandparents last year. | It was red, with SpongeBob SquarePants printed on the front, a birthday present from her grandparents last year. |
| Keisha was planning to celebrate her 11th birthday on Jan. 3, during the trip, with her parents and 16-year-old sister, Putriyan Permata. | Keisha was planning to celebrate her 11th birthday on Jan. 3, during the trip, with her parents and 16-year-old sister, Putriyan Permata. |
| But their AirAsia flight on Dec. 28 hit stormy weather less than an hour after takeoff from Surabaya, the capital of East Java Province. For reasons that are still not clear, the Airbus A320-200, bound for Singapore, crashed into the Java Sea, killing all 162 people aboard. | But their AirAsia flight on Dec. 28 hit stormy weather less than an hour after takeoff from Surabaya, the capital of East Java Province. For reasons that are still not clear, the Airbus A320-200, bound for Singapore, crashed into the Java Sea, killing all 162 people aboard. |
| “There won’t be a present this year,” said Imam Samporno, Keisha’s grandfather, who viewed security camera images provided by crash investigators that showed the girl, wearing the red jacket, boarding the airplane with her family. | |
| Since the crash, Mr. Imam and his wife, Maria Endang Wirasmi, both 65, have come each day to a crisis center at the provincial police headquarters here hoping for news of their daughter, Donna Indah Nurwatie; their son-in-law, Boby Winata; and their grandchildren, who lived in a nearby town. | Since the crash, Mr. Imam and his wife, Maria Endang Wirasmi, both 65, have come each day to a crisis center at the provincial police headquarters here hoping for news of their daughter, Donna Indah Nurwatie; their son-in-law, Boby Winata; and their grandchildren, who lived in a nearby town. |
| They are among the 92 crash victims whose bodies have not yet been recovered and identified by forensic teams working in Surabaya, and time is running out on the search. | They are among the 92 crash victims whose bodies have not yet been recovered and identified by forensic teams working in Surabaya, and time is running out on the search. |
| Mr. Imam, chain-smoking cigarettes in an open-air restaurant here last week, is not hoping for miracles. An observant Muslim, he just wants to give them a proper burial. | Mr. Imam, chain-smoking cigarettes in an open-air restaurant here last week, is not hoping for miracles. An observant Muslim, he just wants to give them a proper burial. |
| “I’m just asking God to find the bodies of my children and grandchildren, no matter what their condition,” he said. “If they can’t find them, it’s God’s will. We just hope the government will continue the search operation until all the victims are found.” | “I’m just asking God to find the bodies of my children and grandchildren, no matter what their condition,” he said. “If they can’t find them, it’s God’s will. We just hope the government will continue the search operation until all the victims are found.” |
| On Tuesday, the Indonesian armed forces announced the end of search operations for the missing victims, saying that navy divers had retrieved all the bodies that were in the badly damaged fuselage, which lies off the southern coast of Borneo, at a depth of about 100 feet. They also canceled further efforts to try to raise the wreckage. | On Tuesday, the Indonesian armed forces announced the end of search operations for the missing victims, saying that navy divers had retrieved all the bodies that were in the badly damaged fuselage, which lies off the southern coast of Borneo, at a depth of about 100 feet. They also canceled further efforts to try to raise the wreckage. |
| The country’s National Search and Rescue Agency said Wednesday that it would continue searching, although on a much smaller scale, through Feb. 6. Officials said they might also try to enlist fishermen and residents of coastal communities to join in the search. | The country’s National Search and Rescue Agency said Wednesday that it would continue searching, although on a much smaller scale, through Feb. 6. Officials said they might also try to enlist fishermen and residents of coastal communities to join in the search. |
| Surabaya, a port city dating from at least the 13th century, has become the locus of the grief felt by families like Mr. Imam’s. Nearly half of the 162 people aboard the plane lived here, and few people here feel no connection to them. | Surabaya, a port city dating from at least the 13th century, has become the locus of the grief felt by families like Mr. Imam’s. Nearly half of the 162 people aboard the plane lived here, and few people here feel no connection to them. |
| The city, which feels more like a town given its wide, tree-lined streets and absence of high-rise buildings, sits on the northern shore of East Java at the mouth of the Mas River. | The city, which feels more like a town given its wide, tree-lined streets and absence of high-rise buildings, sits on the northern shore of East Java at the mouth of the Mas River. |
| Dutch colonists incorporated the port in the Dutch East Indies in the 18th century. It was occupied by Japanese troops during World War II, and bombed by Allied forces. In 1945, pro-independence Indonesian soldiers fought the British military, which had arrived at the end of the war to assume control from the surrendering Japanese, in the Battle of Surabaya. | Dutch colonists incorporated the port in the Dutch East Indies in the 18th century. It was occupied by Japanese troops during World War II, and bombed by Allied forces. In 1945, pro-independence Indonesian soldiers fought the British military, which had arrived at the end of the war to assume control from the surrendering Japanese, in the Battle of Surabaya. |
| Today, with 3.2 million people, Surabaya is Indonesia’s second-largest city and runs its second-largest port. As a testament to its diverse past, Surabaya has an Arab quarter, mosques, churches, Buddhist and Hindu temples, and one of the largest Chinatowns in the country, as well as Dutch colonial buildings. | Today, with 3.2 million people, Surabaya is Indonesia’s second-largest city and runs its second-largest port. As a testament to its diverse past, Surabaya has an Arab quarter, mosques, churches, Buddhist and Hindu temples, and one of the largest Chinatowns in the country, as well as Dutch colonial buildings. |
| Tri Rismaharini, the city’s popular mayor, has gone to the crisis center on many days since the crash to be with families as they receive the remains of identified relatives. | Tri Rismaharini, the city’s popular mayor, has gone to the crisis center on many days since the crash to be with families as they receive the remains of identified relatives. |
| “I tell them that ‘Today it is your turn to grieve, but maybe tomorrow it’s my turn,’ ” she said in an interview last week. | |
| While most of Surabaya’s residents are Muslim, many of the victims were Chinese-Indonesian, members of a mostly Christian and affluent minority who made their mark in this city as merchants, traders and businesspeople, in particular in the past 50 years. | While most of Surabaya’s residents are Muslim, many of the victims were Chinese-Indonesian, members of a mostly Christian and affluent minority who made their mark in this city as merchants, traders and businesspeople, in particular in the past 50 years. |
| “We don’t know what’s behind the mystery of this tragedy, but we know that God has a plan,” said Johannes Sonny Susanto, 38, an associate pastor at Mawar Sharon, a Protestant megachurch whose congregation of 8,000 lost 43 members in the crash. | “We don’t know what’s behind the mystery of this tragedy, but we know that God has a plan,” said Johannes Sonny Susanto, 38, an associate pastor at Mawar Sharon, a Protestant megachurch whose congregation of 8,000 lost 43 members in the crash. |
| In the first days after the crash, the crisis center was packed with hundreds of distraught relatives, searching for answers and, according to psychologists counseling them, unrealistically hoping for miracles. | In the first days after the crash, the crisis center was packed with hundreds of distraught relatives, searching for answers and, according to psychologists counseling them, unrealistically hoping for miracles. |
| In the past week, however, fewer than three dozen family members have been turning up each day, with the rest waiting in their homes in Surabaya and across East Java Province, hoping for a phone call or text message informing them that their loved ones have been recovered and identified. | In the past week, however, fewer than three dozen family members have been turning up each day, with the rest waiting in their homes in Surabaya and across East Java Province, hoping for a phone call or text message informing them that their loved ones have been recovered and identified. |
| Burial plans for 80-year-old Jo Indri, at a traditional Chinese-Indonesian cemetery in Surabaya, remain in limbo; she was the matriarch of a Buddhist-Confucian family that also lost five other members in the crash. | Burial plans for 80-year-old Jo Indri, at a traditional Chinese-Indonesian cemetery in Surabaya, remain in limbo; she was the matriarch of a Buddhist-Confucian family that also lost five other members in the crash. |
| Ms. Indri’s daughter The Meiji Thejakusuma, 44, and her granddaughters, Stevie Gunawan, 10, and Stephanie Gunawan, 21, have been identified and buried. The others remain missing. | Ms. Indri’s daughter The Meiji Thejakusuma, 44, and her granddaughters, Stevie Gunawan, 10, and Stephanie Gunawan, 21, have been identified and buried. The others remain missing. |
| If the others are found, “It’ll be a load off Dad’s mind,” said Yans Thejakusuma, 30, Ms. Indri’s grandson, speaking about his father, one of Ms. Indri’s children. “He’ll be able to move on.” | |
| Margaretha, a psychologist and spokeswoman for the Indonesian Psychology Association, said she and other mental health workers from the national police force and navy were on standby at the crisis center to counsel families whose relatives’ remains are not recovered. | Margaretha, a psychologist and spokeswoman for the Indonesian Psychology Association, said she and other mental health workers from the national police force and navy were on standby at the crisis center to counsel families whose relatives’ remains are not recovered. |
| As the search for victims winds down, that is looking increasingly inevitable. | As the search for victims winds down, that is looking increasingly inevitable. |
| “Families can still say goodbye even if there is no burial process,” said Ms. Margaretha, who uses only one name. | “Families can still say goodbye even if there is no burial process,” said Ms. Margaretha, who uses only one name. |
| Some Surabaya residents have become “secondary victims” of the plane crash, she said, developing anxiety and a fear of flying after watching the intense news coverage of Flight 8501. | Some Surabaya residents have become “secondary victims” of the plane crash, she said, developing anxiety and a fear of flying after watching the intense news coverage of Flight 8501. |
| Among them is Diana Dharmayanti, 21, a business management major at Petra Christian University in Surabaya. She said that before the crash, she had booked a ticket to Singapore for March on the same AirAsia flight, 8501. | Among them is Diana Dharmayanti, 21, a business management major at Petra Christian University in Surabaya. She said that before the crash, she had booked a ticket to Singapore for March on the same AirAsia flight, 8501. |
| “The flight number has been changed, but I still don’t know whether I will go or not,” Ms. Dharmayanti said after praying at a Confucian temple in the Chinatown district. | “The flight number has been changed, but I still don’t know whether I will go or not,” Ms. Dharmayanti said after praying at a Confucian temple in the Chinatown district. |
| Several people who regularly prayed at the temple were on the flight. | Several people who regularly prayed at the temple were on the flight. |
| H. Choirur Rozi, 37, a spokesman for an Islamic school run by Masjid Baitussalam, a mosque in south Surabaya, flew just one day after the AirAsia crash, but admitted that he was apprehensive. | H. Choirur Rozi, 37, a spokesman for an Islamic school run by Masjid Baitussalam, a mosque in south Surabaya, flew just one day after the AirAsia crash, but admitted that he was apprehensive. |
| Mr. Choirur, his wife and two children had driven from Surabaya to Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, on Dec. 26 to sell their vehicle, and combined it with a short family vacation. On Dec. 29, they flew home on another budget carrier. | Mr. Choirur, his wife and two children had driven from Surabaya to Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, on Dec. 26 to sell their vehicle, and combined it with a short family vacation. On Dec. 29, they flew home on another budget carrier. |
| “Everyone onboard was praying,” Mr. Choirur said, with a rueful laugh. | “Everyone onboard was praying,” Mr. Choirur said, with a rueful laugh. |
| Back at the crisis center, Mr. Imam continued to wait on Wednesday for information about his family. | Back at the crisis center, Mr. Imam continued to wait on Wednesday for information about his family. |
| Last week, he recalled how Keisha, the more precocious of his two grandchildren, loved to dance, and to sing to him, calling him “guru” — meaning teacher. | Last week, he recalled how Keisha, the more precocious of his two grandchildren, loved to dance, and to sing to him, calling him “guru” — meaning teacher. |
| “She was very creative, and she did so many things,” he said. | “She was very creative, and she did so many things,” he said. |
| Ms. Thejakusuma had planned to celebrate the success of her 14-year-old clothing business, Planet One, and her 45th birthday by treating her family to a cruise around Southeast Asia, sailing out of Singapore. | Ms. Thejakusuma had planned to celebrate the success of her 14-year-old clothing business, Planet One, and her 45th birthday by treating her family to a cruise around Southeast Asia, sailing out of Singapore. |
| She was traveling with her husband, Charly Gunawan; their three children; her mother, Ms. Indri; and the boyfriend of their eldest daughter. | She was traveling with her husband, Charly Gunawan; their three children; her mother, Ms. Indri; and the boyfriend of their eldest daughter. |
| Mr. Thejakusuma said Mr. Gunawan, his uncle, had expressed reservations about the whole family’s being on the same plane “in case something happens.” | Mr. Thejakusuma said Mr. Gunawan, his uncle, had expressed reservations about the whole family’s being on the same plane “in case something happens.” |
| They went anyway. | They went anyway. |