After more than a week of waiting and wondering, friends of University students Stephanie and Lindsey Jackson were given a sense of closure after several pieces of the missing jetliner carrying the sisters were found off the coast of Sulawesi in Indonesia on Wednesday and Thursday.
The first reports came late Wednesday after an Indonesian fishing boat came across a piece of the tail from the Boeing 737-400. Authorities later matched the serial number on the debris to Adam Air Flight KI-574, confirming that it was the ill-fated flight that went missing more than a week ago.
“The announcement that they finally found wreckage has roughly shaken me from this numb sleepwalk I have been experiencing for a week,” Crispin Young, a former roommate and friend of Stephanie Jackson, wrote in an e-mail. “The denial is ebbing out of me and is being replaced by a heartbreaking reality that our Steph might not be coming home.”
Shortly after the section of the tail was recovered, bystanders joined the search and found part of a chair, a food tray and a piece of a tire, according to the Associated Press.
No survivors or bodies have yet been discovered in the area of the crash. The Jackson sisters and their father, Scott Jackson, were believed to be the only Americans on the plane.
The flight first went missing on New Year’s Day after it reported encountering high winds and altered its intended path at least twice before losing contact with the ground.
The days that followed were ones of turmoil and confusion for those involved.
Last Tuesday, just one day after the flight went missing, the first of a series of contradictory reports falsely stated that the plane had crashed in a remote mountain range in Sulawesi, killing at least 90 of the 102 on board. Less than 12 hours later, the report was denied by Indonesian air traffic coordinators who said the information was based on rumors from local villagers.
Initial reports on Jan. 1 also said the plane sent out two distress signals before disappearing from contact. That fact was denied last Thursday, though the report did confirm that the pilot had reported high winds during the flight.
As friends and family awaited word of the missing flight before Wednesday, several friends of Lindsey Jackson posted well wishes on her Facebook page asking her to “come home soon.”
A Web comment in response to the Emerald’s Monday story about the flight read:
“i love you stephanie!
“you are a radiant human being and you’ve been my inspiration this whole last year. … i wish you were here right now, but i’ll try to be patient. i just miss you so much.”
The United States National Transportation Safety Board joined the investigation last Friday along with teams from General Electric Engines and Boeing, NTSB representative Ted Lopatkiewicz said. The NTSB had made some recommendations on where to look for the missing plane based on radar readings earlier this week, but the investigation has largely been controlled by Indonesian authorities, Lopatkiewicz said.
“It’s up to them,” he said. “We’re not really calling the shots. We’re over there to assist in the investigation.”
The amount of searchers participating in the investigation now numbers in the thousands, mostly from Indonesian military and volunteers. Crews from Singapore also began assisting the search effort last week.
Searchers will continue to look for clues as to what happened to the flight through the weekend, while many friends and family of the Jackson sisters, including Young, will reflect on their lives.
“Stephanie was the strongest and most vivacious woman I have ever known, and she will be missed by so many,” Young said.
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