Dubai: When flydubai flight FZ981 crashed in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, 23-year-old crew member Alex Confait’s mother was watching the coverage on TV.
According to a Seychelles News Agency report, she immediately called her husband Vincent, who was on the way to work on La Digue island, in Seychelles. He calmed her down, and told her that Alex might not be on board … to wait and see.
They received the call from flydubai’s head office at around 8am yesterday [Saturday]. Alex was gone. He was to celebrate his 24th birthday on March 31. His last Facebook post was on Friday, and he wrote: “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
Confait was one of seven crew members killed in the air crash.
On Facebook and twitter, social media users expressed their sympathies, and shared their thoughts with the hashtags, #UnitedWithWings and #FlyDubai. Many changed their profile pictures to display a black ribbon, in tribute.
Amal Bin Salem, a close friend of flight purser Javier Alejandro Curbelo and crew member Audrus Maxim, was distraught by the news. On her Facebook page, she wrote: “Words are useless now. Tears are not enough. Two beautiful people and two great souls have just left us tragically to a better world and a higher existence. I will never forget you, Javi and Maxim.”
Rebecca Claire, a crew member from another airline, is based in London, but said her heart went out to flight FZ981 crew’s families. She tweeted: “Seeing my colleagues refer to them with such happy memories, melts my heart. Rest in peace, to all passengers and crew on-board.”
Paul E. Aquilina, who is based in Essex, England, wrote on Facebook: “Very upsetting to hear a colleague from my old airline was working on the flydubai flight last night that was involved in the horrific tragedy. We had some laughs on those flights. It just goes to show you never know anytime anywhere. Rest in peace my friend.”
Among the deceased passengers was Igor Pakus, who, according to Russian news agency RIA, was the deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Rostov region in Russia. He was travelling with his wife, Galina.
A spokesperson from the Ukrainian Independent Information Agency released a statement that eight Ukranians also died. Among them was a family with a five-year-old child.
Their names and year of birth: Tsegelskaya Svetlana, born in 1985, Tsegelsky Paul, 1975, Tsegelsky Danil, 2011, Zhanna Andreeva, 1991, Valentine Somin, 1948, Volodymyr Fedyanin, 1980, Tatyana Kravchenko, 1965, Anna Sergeeva, 1990.
