The elderly mother of a Brisbane couple aboard the missing Malaysia Airlines plane is struggling to comprehend her loss.
Rod and Mary Burrows were on a trip of a lifetime with their long-time friends Cathy and Bob Lawnton, when the plane disappeared from radar over the South China Sea on Saturday.
Mr Burrows' mother Irene Burrows, who lives in Biloela in central Queensland, says the family is struggling to deal with what has happened and she's praying for a miracle.
"Nobody can believe that this has happened. This happens to other people, not to the likes of us who have a son and a daughter on a plane that wouldn't hurt or harm anybody and were just a loving couple," she told ABC radio.
"Why was it that plane? There's thousands up there a day."
Mrs Burrows has told how her son and daughter-in-law were so excited about the impending birth of their first grandchild.
"Rodney was really looking forward to that ... his first grandchild," Mrs Burrows told The Morning Bulletin.
"If we could just find the plane ... we would have some satisfaction. There is always hope - but it is fading very fast."
Rodney and Mary Burrows have three adult children.
Mrs Burrows said her grandchildren have been in regular contact with the Foreign Affairs Department and Malaysia Airlines, desperate for any news about the fate of their parents.
