Return my papa to me, pleads missing AirAsia pilot's daughter

Even as hope faded for the family of the pilot flying the missing AirAsia plane, a despairing message came from his daughter.

“Papa, come back. I still need you. Return my papa to me. Papa come back, we have to meet,” wrote Angela Anggi Ranastianis, 22, the elder daughter of the pilot -- Captain Iriyanto -- on the social networking site Path.

The message was posted hours after AirAsia flight QZ8501 disappeared between Indonesia and Singapore on Sunday with 162 people on board. The flight is presumed to have crashed off the Indonesian coast after the pilot requested a change of path because of stormy weather.

Iriyanto’s nephew told Indonesian news portal Detik.com that his uncle was a very caring man. “He is always helping people because he is a very caring person. If there is a sick relative who needed help and even money, my uncle would be there. If there are money problems in the family, he would surely help," he said.

According to AirAsia, Irianto, a former Indonesian Air Force F16 pilot, had clocked 6,100 hours of flying time.

The AirAsia plane is likely to be at the bottom of the sea, Indonesia's national search and rescue agency chief said on Monday.

Singapore, Malaysia and Australia have dispatched aircraft and ships to assist Indonesia in the search, which is centred on the Java Sea.

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