THE BAIS HAVAAD HALACHA JOURNAL: Volume 5775 Issue XIII Parshas Shemos Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 Aviation Disasters & Permitting an Agunah to RemarryBy Rabbi Micha Cohn

PLEASE LEARN THIS L"N MY BOBIE ESTHER BAS Yichiel Dovid Early Sunday morning, December 28, 2014, Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 flying from Surabaya, Indonesia, to Singapore vanished from radar screens over the Java Sea. The plane had 155 passengers and 7 crew members on board. Debris from the plane and human remains were found two days after the crash in the Karimata Strait. While I am unaware of any Jewish husbands on board this flight, tragedies like this often raise questions in the laws of agunos. In this article we will discuss some of halachic principles used in the aftermath of aviation and maritime disasters to permit a widow to remarry by presuming the demise of the husband.