Plane crash widows tell of their heartbreak

Published on Tuesday 2 June 2009 22:01

THE wives of two Scottish-based oil workers who were on the doomed Air France jet that disappeared over the Atlantic have spoken of their grief.

Graham Gardner and Arthur Coakley were two of five Britons on a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris that is believed to have ended in catastrophe.

It is thought the Airbus A330 crashed into the sea after flying through heavy storms, possibly after being struck by lightning.

All 228 people on board are feared dead.

A three-mile path of wreckage found in the Atlantic hundreds of miles from the archipelago of Fernando de Noronhais is the remains of the jet, the Brazilian defence minister, Nelson Jobim, said last night.

Joyce Gardner, 51, of Gourock, near Greenock, yesterday paid tribute to her husband of eight years, whom she had known since she was a child.

They grew up in adjacent streets and went to the same school, Greenock High.

"I have known Graham for as long as I can remember," she said. "He's such a loving, caring and laid-back man. Nothing fazed him.

"Graham was very supportive and always there for me when I needed him. Although we don't have children, he was very much a family man and loved playing with all the children in our extended family. He was just a big kid at heart.

"I'm sure I can speak for everyone that knew him – whether family, friend or colleague – in saying that he will be missed, dearly."

Mr Gardner worked for Aberdeen company Subsea 7, which specialises in underwater engineering for the oil industry.

He was master of a pipelaying and construction vessel based off Brazil, where he worked for a month at a time.

The Airbus A330 had run into storms with strong turbulence about four hours into the flight, which left Rio at about 11pm UK time on Sunday.

About 15 minutes after it hit turbulence, an automatic message was received from the plane – flight AF447 – indicating an electrical failure.

The other passenger, Mr Coakley of Whitby, North Yorkshire, worked at Aberdeen-based oil company PDMS. The structural engineer was helping with a survey in Brazil and was flying home to go on holiday to Corfu.

His grief-stricken wife, Patricia, has been trying to call his mobile phone, but to no avail.

She broke down in tears as she described the devastating impact his loss had on their family.

"He was fabulous, he really was," Mrs Coakley said. "You can ask anybody about Art, they will all tell you 'great'.

"He had a very dry sense of humour. We met and married within three months. We have been married 34 years."

The couple had planned to buy a property in Corfu and were saving up to buy a yacht, but she added: "He's not going to come back. Yesterday, I was really optimistic. Today, maybe more realistic. I would love him to come back."

She said their three grown-up children, Dominic, 31, Patrick, 29, and daughter Mise, 25, were "distraught".

"They absolutely idolised and worshipped their father," she said. "He worked so hard for his family – that's all he wanted, to retire. It's not going to happen, is it?" Her husband had been due back on May 19 – but his company had asked him to stay longer.

She remembered their last conversation, when he said: "Hello, darling. I'm at the airport. I've checked my luggage in – I'm going through."

She added: "I was elated. He was coming home."

Also on the doomed plane was Alexander Bjoroy, 11, a pupil at Clifton College Preparatory School in Bristol.

The boy, whose family lives in Brazil, was travelling alone after a week-long half-term break with his parents.

Three young Irish doctors, all close friends, were also on board the jet, returning from a two-week holiday in Brazil.

Aisling Butler, 26, Jane Deasy, 27, and Eithne Walls, 29, all had promising careers ahead of them.

John Butler paid tribute to his daughter from his home in Roscrea, County Tipperary.

"She was a truly wonderful, exciting girl," he said. "She never flunked an exam in her life – nailed every one of them – and took it all in her stride as well."

He said that when he opened up his daughter's flight itinerary on his computer "a nightmare opened up as well".

Dr Jose Souza, an orthodontist working in Reading, was also among the 216 passengers, who were from 32 countries.

There were 61 French passengers, 58 Brazilians and 12 crew members.

The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, who went to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris to meet relatives of passengers, said: "It's a tragic accident."

He added: "The chances of finding survivors are tiny."

Three-mile debris trail but no sign of bodies

DEBRIS spotted by planes in the Atlantic Ocean is wreckage of the missing French airliner, the Brazilian government said last night.

Military planes found a three-mile path of wreckage that confirms the Air France jet carrying 228 people crashed in the sea hundreds of miles from the Brazilian archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, the country's defence minister Nelson Jobim said.

"There isn't the slightest doubt that the debris is from the Air France plane," Mr Jobim said.

He said the strip of wreckage included metallic and nonmetallic pieces, but did not describe them in detail. No bodies were spotted.

The discovery came just hours after authorities announced they had found an aeroplane seat, an orange buoy and signs of fuel in a part of the Atlantic Ocean where depths range from less than one mile to more than three.

Mr Jobim said recovery of the plane's cockpit voice and data recorders and other wreckage could be difficult because much of the wreckage sank.

"It's going to be very hard to search for it because it could be at a depth of 2,000 meters or 3,000 metres (1.2 miles to 1.8 miles) in that area of the ocean," he told reporters.

A Brazilian air force spokesman said the two spots where debris was found suggested the pilots may have tried to turn the plane around to return to Fernando de Noronha.

Colonel Jorge Amaral said: "It might have tried to make a turn, maybe to return, but that is just a hypothesis."

FERNANDO DE NORONHA