Margareth Abraham was just twenty-four years old when she lost her life aboard ALM Flight 980. No one knows exactly what happened to Margareth. Did she make it out of the plane? Was she knocked unconscious? What I can say with some degree of certainty is that Margareth was standing in the aisle at the moment of impact. She undoubtedly would have been thrown forward violently as the plane decelerated.
Margareth was making her last trip as a ALM stewardess. She was engaged to be married to Robby Schouten, a television producer. She was on this particular flight only because she had agreed to fill in for another flight attendant.
In this audio clip, passenger Rick Arnold talks about his recollections of Margareth.
In this next clip, Purser Wilfred Spencer talks about a phone call he made to his wife the evening of the accident. His wife was in tears because she had only been told that there was an accident and didn’t know if Wilfred had survived.
Tito Cordeiro was the third ALM flight attendant aboard the flight. He, too, was concerned about Margareth. In this clip, he describes the scene in the hotel lobby meeting with Robby Schouten who had flown to St. Croix to conduct his own search for Margareth.
This last audio clip is from Margareth’s brother Robert Abraham. He talks about how finding out about the accident and learning that Margareth was missing.
Was dat niet in een vliegtuig naar St. Maarten. Dan kan ik mij dat herinneren. Ik woonde toendertijd op St. Maarten en werkte bij de ALM.