The eight-year-old son of the AirAsia QZ8501 captain is unaware his father’s plane has crashed and believes his ‘daddy is still at work’, relatives have said. Captain Iriyanto, an experienced former military jet pilot, crashed in airspace thick with storm clouds between Indonesia and Singapore while piloting the Airbus with 162 people on board on Sunday. The pilot’s brother Budi Sutiono told the Telegraph Iriyanto’s son Arya Galih Gegara has been told his father is still at work. ‘He keeps asking us and he keeps crying because he misses his father,’ Mr Sutino said. The family have switched all the televisions in the house off and will break the news to eight-year-old Galih gradually.
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Captain Iriyanto was piloting AirAsia flight QZ8501 when it crashed
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The plane came down in the Java Sea, 42 minutes after departing
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162 people were on board the flight from Indonesia to Singapore
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Iriyanto's son Arya Galih Gegara believes his dad is still at work
AirAsia said the captain had more than 20,000 flying hours, of which 6,100 were with @placeholder on the Airbus 320.