Irish family lose hope of recovering body of Air France crash victim
The family of an Irish woman killed in the June 2009 Air France plane crash in the Atlantic which claimed the lives of 228 people has given up hope of her body being recovered.
French aviation authorities have now identified 153 victims, but Dr Eithne Walls, 28, from Ballygowan, Co Down, is not among them.
A family statement said: "The last glimmer of hope for her return has now been extinguished."
Dr Walls had been on the flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris when the plane crashed into the sea on June 1, 2009. She worked in the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital in Dublin and had been on holiday with two doctor friends from the Republic.
The body of Jane Deasy from Dublin was among 50 recovered at the time of the tragedy, but there is still no trace of Aisling Butler from Roscrea, Co Tipperary. The three women had graduated in medicine from Trinity College in 2007 and were on their way back to Ireland.
France's air transport police have revealed that tests conducted last week succeeded in identifying 103 of the victims whose remains were brought up from the crash site in April.
Those were in addition to the 50 victims who were found and identified immediately following the crash of the Air France 747.
Dr Walls was also a talented Irish dancer. She spent a year with 'Riverdance' on Broadway, New York, before going to university.
A family statement said they had been informed by the authorities that she was not one of those recovered in the latest and last search in April.
The statement said: "It has always been our most fervent wish that Eithne would be brought home to us and we are intensely saddened that she has not been found. The last glimmer of hope for her return to us has now been extinguished and we must now take time to reconcile ourselves to this further devastating news."
The statement added: "We take some comfort from knowing that Eithne is not alone and is resting with her close friend, classmate and colleague Aisling. Our thoughts and prayers are with Aisling's family and the families of all passengers.
"We mourn Eithne's loss every day and we mourn the future that we will never have with her. We pray that the continuing investigation will clearly and comprehensively reveal the cause of the accident and result in both manufacturers and airlines making significant improvements in the design of aircraft and training of crew to make air travel safer and ensure such a preventable accident is not repeated.
"We request privacy from the media at this time."
