TORONTO -- More than seven months after a deadly plane crash in Ethiopia claimed the lives of 157 passengers and crew members, the remains of 24-year-old Danielle Moore have returned to Toronto.
Speaking with CTV News Toronto on Friday, Danielle Moore’s father said that the homecoming brought the family “a bit of closure.”
“It is an episode in our lives that I never wanted to participate in,” Chris Moore said.
The family returned to Toronto on Tuesday after a four-day trip to the crash site in Addis Ababa after officials finally identified the 24-year-old’s remains. They describe the last seven months as “torment.”
“I know deep inside, part of Danielle is still in Ethiopia, it’s in the open field that’s not covered,” Danielle Moore’s mother said. She and her son, David Moore, were given access to Danielle Moore’s remains for the first time on Monday.
“When they opened the door and I saw the coffin, it was like March 10 again, all over again,” Clariss Moore said. “I wanted to bring her up, hug her, kiss her, dance around with her. And I couldn’t do that.”
Danielle Moore was flying to Kenya for the United Nations Environment Assembly on March 10 when the plane crashed just minutes after takeoff. She was one of 18 Canadians on board.
Her mother previously said that she had texted her daughter right before the flight.
“Now I wish, and I know it’s so selfish, instead of texting, I called,” she said back in March. ““But I didn’t know it was the last one.”
The deadly incident happened five months after another Boeing 737 MAX Jet crashed in Indonesia. A report on the Lion Air flight was released Friday that cited numerous design decisions, safety regulations, and inadequate pilot training as potential factors in the crash.
All Boeing 737 MAX jets remain grounded worldwide as the investigation continues.
The Moore family says they are committed to understanding the investigation and are demanding answers.
They are travelling to Washington, D.C. for meetings next week with the Federal Aviation Administration and will attend House and Senate hearings where Boeing’s CEO is set to testify, and executives are expected to address the design and certification of 737 MAX planes.
“We want to remind Boeing that there’s a human element here, that they should keep in mind whenever they’re designing and going through certification that there are people who are flying that plane. It’s not just a product,” Chris Moore said.
“Danielle was a person who always fought for justice, and for sure she would be here right now fighting the fight, making sure somebody has been brought to justice.”
