Spiraling Into the Sea

摘要

Airlines have elaborate procedures for caring for the families of the dead. Last week, as soon as Alaska Airlines Flight 261 plunged into the Pacific, killing all 88 aboard, the company assigned two employees to every victim's family to attend to their every need, including, in one case, retrieving a family's dog from the kennel. Buses escorted the mourners to a California beach near the scene of the crash. Each was handed a paper bag containing snacks, tissues and small vials for scooping up sea water and sand. Flowers, paid for by the airline, littered the beach. The company had a special reason to join the grieving: 34 of the victims were Alaska Airlines employees or their friends and family.