Emotional return to tragic son's Ludlow school
A Hungarian man has made an emotional return to a Shropshire school to remember his wife and seven-year-old son, who died in a plane crash four years ago.
Andris Buslig and his mother Rita were among 228 passengers and crew who died when an Air France flight disappeared over the Atlantic en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris in June 2009.
The bodies were never found and so Andris's father Gyorgy has no grave to visit. But he has come to regard Ludlow Infants School, where his son was a pupil for two years while his mother worked in England, as his spiritual resting place.
Mr Buslig, who had moved from Shropshire to his native Hungary with his family a year before the crash, said be believed Andris's happiest years were spent at the school.
He has made the trip from Hungary to Ludlow every year since the crash to attend a commemorative assembly there.
Mr Buslig was at Ludlow Infants on Thursday for this year's assembly where he presented bouquets to members of staff.
He also laid flowers under a cherry tree planted at the school in memory of his son.
Mr Buslig gave a reading of the poem Footprints in the Sand, which had been read out at a commemorative service at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on June 4, 2009, for victims of the crash.
He told the Ludlow children and staff: "When I am with the children in Ludlow I feel like I am not alone, but rather I am with the Lord."
Headteacher Val Matthews said Andris had started in the reception class at the school after his mother came to England to work in Leominster for the world famous, Hungarian-based Peto Institute for the conductive education of children with cerebral palsy.
She added: "When I joined the school he was Year 1 and like everyone else I remember him well.
"He was a lovely boy, a little quiet, but when he started at the school he couldn't speak any English.
"By the time he was in Year 1 his English was so good I couldn't tell his speech apart from any of the other children. He learned so quickly.
"Mrs Buslig then went back to Hungary to work, although the family was reluctant to leave, but Andris still came back for the Year 2 Valentine's disco.
"His mother then went to work in Brazil for the Peto Institute and she took Andris with her.
"They were flying back home when they were killed and we learnt the news the following day from a parent who had kept in touch with the family. We were all devastated.
"As there is no grave for Mr Buslig to visit he regards our school as Andris's spiritual home and so he has been back every year since to mark the tragedy."
The ill-fated Air France flight Mrs Buslig and Andris were on was a scheduled commercial service from Galeão International Airport in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Charles de Gaulle International Airport in Paris.
The Airbus A330-203 airliner crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on June 1, 2009, killing all of the 216 passengers and 12 aircrew on board.
The accident was the worst in the history of Air France.
It was also the Airbus A330's second and deadliest fatal accident, and its first while in commercial passenger service.
Initial investigation was hampered as authorities were unable to locate the wreckage. It was only found almost two years after the accident and the aircraft's black boxes were finally recovered from the ocean floor in May 2011.
The final report into the disaster, released at a news conference on July 5, 2012, said the aircraft crashed after temporary inconsistencies between the airspeed measurements, probably due to an obstruction by ice crystals, caused the autopilot to disconnect.
The report concluded the crew subsequently reacted incorrectly and ultimately led the aircraft to a stall, from which it did not recover.
