Yemen Jet Crash, The Story About the Only Filipino on Board

by spicensash | July 1, 2009 at 10:37 pm

916 views | 35 Recommendations | 9 comments

A dear friend of mine was among the crew and the only Filipino who was on board the Yemeni jet carrying 153 people on a flight from Yemen to the Comoros Islands. The plane plunged into the Indian Ocean early Tuesday due to bad weather condition. Although, it is widely believed that there were only 2 survivors which does not include her; the family and the people who love her are still clinging to a faint hope that she can come home safely.

I came to know about this sad news from my best friend in HS (her sister in law) who told me that unfortunately she was one of the crew of the plane who crashed just earlier that day. I was really shocked and it came to me like a hard blow in the stomach. Although, earlier that day, when I saw the news over the net that one of the Yemen Airlines crashed, a short and unexplainable fear washed all over me. I felt a sudden foreboding about her coz I know that she works for Yemen Airlines. Yet, I discarded the thought coz considering Yemen Airlines' number of flights everyday, who would think she would be on that very flight that has succumbed to its worst fate.

It felt like a bad hunch about your boyfriend breaking up with you just because you picked the wrong shirt color for his birthday. You knew that he went ballistic over it but you have never expected, not once in a million chance that he would break up with you over some bad choice of shirt color for his birthday gift. Thus, before you could even say " How could this happen?" he's already gone from your life forever.

Unbelievable but it’s happening. We can only ask why… why her of all people. She's suppose to come home soon to celebrate her 27th birthday this coming August. At this time, I can only make a birthday wish for her that she will be able to celebrate her birthday in the arms of her family and friends.

When I first met her few years back, she was just a dreamy young girl who couldn't stop talking about being a Flight Attendant. Hailed from a family of professionals she herself is a graduate of Interior Design from a very reputable University. However, her dream to wander around the world and the possibility of endless adventures overpowered her and made her decide to give up her career as an Interior Designer and started chasing her dream to become an FA all the way to the big city.

She is the most enthusiastic and the happiest person I know. One can never stop giggling and laughing during a simple conversation with her. We would always call each other " gwaps", a short Visayan word for guapa which mean pretty in English. We could talk for hours just about anything and everything. She makes me feel guilty when I complain about something coz I've rarely seen her complained about anything. She is just the happiest and contented person I know.

I remember, visiting her at her rented pad in Ortigas while she was attending Training Classes for FA. She described the training as demanding and thus too far from being glamorous and friendly. According to her, it involved staying in the water for long hours as a part of water survival training and handling emergency situations such as evacuating an airplane. Nevertheless, she never gave up and continued to realize what she really wanted. I can never forget the ecstatic look on her face when she told me that she got accepted in Yemen Airlines. If I could only foretell the future and knew something bad was going to happen... If I could only stop her from boarding that plane…

I know it’s too late now to stop her from boarding that plane as her duties as a Flight Attendant called for it. I can only hope and pray that she is safe wherever she is. Thus, I’m pleading to whoever is reading this blog especially to the Filipinos out there to offer prayers and share hope with me and all the people who love her that she will survive in the greatest battle of her life.

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booh1 (not verified)

at 23:54 on July 1st, 2009

my deepest sympathy to the family and friends of the victim.

I never had a chance to meet her, but i in my thought through my friends who's been her friend for a long time was sweet cebuana girl who grew up with close family ties and good morals and values.Thats how my friend described her to me, their been intouch for six years and had their last communication was when she called for to tell the news about the past Michael Jackson whose been actually planned to watch the coming concert in london.But the shocking news when i caught my friend on line having a shout of 'worried "asking why. Then the schocking revelation was said then, i felt so bad too cuz i can feel how the grief of loosing her. How friendship being valued so much that the pain of loosing her was so devastating.

well, i just want to share this story's with you as a witness of the superlative of this young beutiful girl who wished to dreams someday ...,but it comes to an end with a tragic faith.

I never met nor talk to her but in my thoughts i could feel how better person she was.

Again my sympathy to the family and friends of the victim. May her soul travel in peace.God be with us! and tnx for the opportunity.

spicensash

at 00:52 on July 2nd, 2009

Hey Booh, I really appreciated your comments regarding my friend however, it will be appreciated by me and her family if you don't mention her name. I have never mentiond her name on my blogs. I don't know how to undo your comment coz you've already published her name but please if there's soemthing you can do to edit it. Just remove her name please.We'll wait until there's an official release of her name in the news. Thank you.

booh (not verified)

at 04:01 on July 2nd, 2009

Im very sorry madame , not my inttention. i will try my very best to erase it. im very sorry.

Amy Judd

at 08:09 on July 2nd, 2009

Thank you for posting this moving piece about your friend, it is really so sad and hard to believe.

(I also removed the name from the first comment).

spicensash

at 08:19 on July 2nd, 2009

Thank you for reading my blog. I just wanted the world to know the story about my dear friend. It's really painful for us especially for her family.

And thanks for removing her name on your first comment. Really appreciate it.

rollyocampo (not verified)

at 10:34 on July 2nd, 2009

Hi spicensash!

I've put up a link to your post in my second article regarding the Yemenia crash.

I join those who continue praying for a miracle in Camille's life. (Her name is out officially via the DFA, news reports and Joyce Ann Burton's blog so I guess it's alright to mention her name here.)

Thanks for sharing with us your precious memories of Camille. Who knows?! She might just celebrate with all of us her 27th birthday this coming August!

Joyce Burton Titular (not verified)

at 21:46 on July 2nd, 2009

Camille is exactly how you described her!!! I met her first at that Flight Attendant school you mentioned- I was her Conversational English trainer and she was one of my brightest students. Although it breaks my heart to remember that I helped her train for her job interview at Yemenia, she would've passed whether I trained her or not; she had all the right qualities AND the confidence to nail her dream job. Thanks for your heart warming article Spicensash... I read it and thought fond thought of our dear dear Camille. I don't understand why this happened but I just trust and believe that God is in control over everything.

Hoping you can visit my blog and read my article on Camille. I also have a few pics of her. http://adventuresofabeautyqueen.wordpress.com

NHEL (not verified)

at 02:53 on July 3rd, 2009

so sad we have the same last name i bet we came from the same ascendant sorry not to know camille until was published after the crash

anjz26

at 19:35 on July 6th, 2009

Our reunion among flight attendants is scheduled this coming July 10, 2009. However, due to this tragic event i guess this will be indefinite to push through. I have known my sweet co-flight attendant since the time we started working in Yemen. Training for 45 days continuously gave me a chance to know more about her. Cams, as we normally call her on the flat, she loves to cook for us despite how tired she is from work. Because the best part was chit chatting after eating about as anything under the sun, I can still remember when she shared some unlikable experience during her flight, call it ironic but as she relays her stories before she experience overshoot,(plane missed the run way) crack in the cabin(may result to decompression) and emergency landing(due to technical problem). It prompts me to recall how devastated she is during this moment. I use to kid her, "Cams, parating na lang ikaw nakaka experience nyan". Then she laughs with giggle... Because among 20+ filipinas flight attendants in Yemenia rarely we experience such things as those.

Camille and I flew Moroni flight before (Comoros) flight normally takes 4 1/2 hours going to Moroni then 1 hour transit(passenger deplanes, cleaning of aircraft and boarding again) 3-4hrs flight back to Sana'a(Yemen) If you can imagine being a flight attendant takes alot of energy and strength enable to perform it well, not to mention some disgruntled crew onboard and ofcourse the passengers. Nevertheless, being with Cams on the flight makes 4 hours shrink to 30 mins, you can not even imagine your working, we laugh around and share things, i always tease her in finding her soulmate.

Camille is a very strong willed woman, she fights what she believes in, if one senior cabin crew doing the wrong practice and asking her to do the same. Hmmm, you will see how tough she is.

I never have the chance to be with her during nightstops, supposedly we do have flight together in London and will stay there for 5 days. Unfortunately, in last minute she was removed on the flight due to some reason. Among our destinations, London flight is one of her favorite. She love to spend special occasions in Europe together with her bestfriend.

As of this moment July 7, normally she calls as soon as she's in Manila, planning to meet up is mostly our agenda. Wherever you are right now Camille, hang on and have this fate to survive, I'm pretty sure you can overcome all of this. We will wait for you my dear...