Some faces behind the numbers.

Captain Iriyanto had clocked 6,053 hours with AirAsia when he took off on Flight QZ8501.

"He's so clever," Iriyanto's 76-year-old father, Suwarto, said about his son. "And his experience in fighter jets makes him very able to fly commercial planes."

Iriyanto's parents said have been heartbroken since the plane captained by their son vanished on Saturday; their other son died of diabetes just 10 days ago.

Suwarto said he saw Iriyanto just days before the plane took off, at his other son's funeral, The Independent reported.

"I want my son to come back alive and well but if that's not meant to be, if God doesn't want that, it's in the hands of fate," Suwarto said.

"My son, he's not alone on the plane. If this is God's will then so be it."

Iriyanto's daughter posted a picture of the two of them to her Facebook account. "Papa pulang. Kakak masih butuh papa. Kembalikan papaku. Papa pulang pa, papa harus ketemu," she wrote, which translates to, "Papa come home. I still need you. Return my papa to me. Papa come back, we have to meet."

http://Facebook.com / Via independent.co.uk

Oscar Desano is a "proud steward" with AirAsia, the Daily Telegraph reported. He's also a father-to-be.

Twitter: @ochanky

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