A family of four members were travelling to Singapore from Surabaya, Indonesia, to celebrate the Christmas holidays with one member who is studying at the Methodist Girls' School in the Lion city.

However, 15-year-old Chiara Natasha's late Yuletide reunion slated on Sunday with her parents and two younger brother would never happen because the four were among the 162 passengers and crew of the ill-fated AirAsia Flight QZ8501 which crashed into the Java Sea on December 28 with no survivors, reports AsiaOne.

Like Us on Facebook

Chiara was initially shocked and speechless when she learned of the fate of the jet which flew her father Herumanto Tanus, 46; mother Indahju Liangsih, 46; and two brothers Nico Giovanni, 17, and Justin Giovanni, 9.

"Now she can't even cry anymore. There are just no more tears left," The New Paper quotes Rambang Damoprojo, the brother of her mother, who broke the news to her initially of the plane having gone missing.

He said that Chiara is aware of the latest about the air mishap, but has put a very brave front facing it and will return to Singapore for the new term. Rambang, 48, as her uncle, becomes her guardian and promised to take care of all of Chiara's needs until she becomes an adult.

Despite the support from classmates in Singapore and friends in Indonesia, Chiara is quiet most of the time. Rambang adds that she doesn't ask him questions since they both know he doesn't have answers for now.

One question she would likely want an answer is why did AirAsia flew on a Sunday when it had license to fly the Surabaya-Singapore route only four days a week, but not on a Sunday.

Djoko Murjatodjo, acting director general of aviation, disclosed that AirAsia used to fly the route daily, but due to overcapacity was ordered to cut it to four days a week. However, AirAsia did not follow the schedule given by the Transportation Ministry and instead flew the route every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

With this discovery and while a full investigation is being made by the Indonesian Ministry of Transport, AirAsia flights in that particular air leg have been suspended, reports CNN.

Meanwhile, 30 bodies of the victims have so far been retrieved with some still strapped on their seats, while Indonesian officials announced that sonar equipment had detected four big objects on the ocean floor which could possibly be the wreckage, according to Fox News.

Bambang Soelistyo, chief of the National Search and Rescue Agency, said the largest piece measures 59 feet by 18 feet which could be part of the aircraft's body.

There is a very faint glimmer of hope for relatives of the 162 on board because the intact emergency door is evidence that it was opened, which gives the possibility that some could have attempted to escape the sunken plane and could be alive and marooned on some islands.

TagsAir Asia, plane crash