HEALING TIME BEGINS; AIRLINE COUNSELORS GIVE SUPPORT, LISTEN.

Byline: Evan Henerson Staff Writer

Grief assistance and counseling is something airline officials train for but hope they never have to do.

With 35 people aboard Flight 261 associated with Alaska Airlines, volunteers for the carrier's Compassionate Assistance Relief Effort were put to a particularly severe test by Monday's crash off Point Mugu.

``We train for these situations, but we never expect them,'' said Jeff Cacy, who helped develop Alaska Airlines' CARE program 11 years ago.

``I have looked at co-workers and said, this is totally unreal that something like this would occur,'' added Cacy who spoke to colleagues at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

``To lose so many of our own folks is the worst kind of tragedy. I didn't have a family member, but these are my co-workers.''

In addition to the five-member flight crew, the passengers aboard Flight 261 included three Alaska Airline employees, four people who worked for the airline's sister carrier, Horizon Air, and 23 passengers believed to be close friends or family of company employees. The MD-83 carried 88 people in all.

Employees at all levels of the 12,000-member company will have access to grief counseling. Those with ties to Flight 261 passengers will likely meet with officials from the airline's critical incident response team - an entity that helps out when an Alaska Airlines employee meets with a nonwork-related tragedy.

By all accounts, there will be plenty of grief counseling available to crash victims' friends and families - regardless of any connection to the company.

Shortly before 5 a.m. Tuesday, hundreds of CARE volunteers were dispatched to locations up and down the West Coast, from Mexico to Alaska. They often worked with grief counselors from organizations like the Red Cross, the Salvation Army and airport-provided chaplains and social workers.

They came to offer words of support and encouragement. Most importantly, they came to listen.

``Most of them are still in shock, they can't believe it. When you suffer a loss like this, you just have to pinch yourself to know you're awake,'' said Joanne Thorne, a retired clinical social worker and mental health volunteer with the American Red Cross in San Francisco.

``You don't say anything, you let them talk. At a time like this, you don't want to be imposing your value system on them. Whatever they're feeling is important and appropriate.''

Thorne offered her services at 10:30 p.m. Monday. She was told to report for duty at 5:30 the next morning at San Francisco International Airport. She spoke to the first grieving relative of a Flight 261 victim before sunrise.

By 1 p.m. Tuesday, the number of people Thorne had met - including crash victims' friends, relatives and Alaska Airlines employees - had grown to 25.

Thorne was one of about 25 Red Cross volunteers at the airport available for grief counseling.

The organization established similar centers at airports in Los Angeles and Seattle. Red Cross officials also served meals to recovery workers in Ventura County.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo: (1) Janelle Davis of Santa Barbara grieves for her sister who was killed in the crash.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer

(2) A memorial is left on the sand at Port Hueneme Beach Park for victims.

Charlotte Schmid Maybach/Staff Photographer