Pain of wait spurs father in Indonesia plane search

MAKASSAR, Indonesia, Jan 12 (Reuters) Faced with the agony of waiting for news on his missing daughter, Barry Tontey rented a boat to help comb an area where debris from an Indonesian airliner that vanished on New Year's Day has been found.

The 50-year-old is among scores of relatives desperately waiting for news of loved ones who were on the Adam Air Boeing 737-400 which disappeared with 102 people aboard while flying from Surabaya in Central Java to Manado in northern Sulawesi.

''We faced high waves there and our boat was so small. It tipped over once and we reached the beach all wet,'' said the trader from Surabaya whose daughter spent the Christmas holiday with her family before flying to Manado where she was studying.

''I wanted to do something but I could not find anything there.'' Tontey took to the seas to join the search around the beaches of Pare Pare on the west coast of Sulawesi island after rumours started surfacing that fishermen had found wreckage of the plane.

''Yesterday, I heard the news that a fisherman had really found something. We all hope we could find our loved ones alive. I will stay here until she's found,'' Tontey told Reuters at the Makassar hotel where many relatives of passengers are staying.

The plane's tail stabiliser was found stuck in a fishing net, while shreds of a wing, a life vest and seat table boards were also recovered by residents, military and police in the sea and on beaches near Pare Pare.

The discoveries follow a painstaking search from jungles to stormy seas involving thousands of military and police.

Officials now believe the plane may have crashed into the sea, disintegrating into small pieces.

Tontey gets some comfort from his faith at this terrible time. ''I still have hope. I don't have any bad hunch up until now. And I think God has a beautiful plan in store,'' said the devout Christian.

''But if the rescuers give up one day, what can I say. They have tried and this case is indeed a mystery,'' he added, his wrinkled-face managing a bitter smile.

REUTERS PDM DS1246