A promising space engineer and aspiring astronaut, Fatima Dyczynski, 25, was moving from Germany to start a new life in Perth when she boarded the Malaysia Airlines flight along with 297 other people.
Despite authorities advising that there were no survivors of the crash, Angela Rudhart-Dyczynsk said she held hope her daughter might be alive because her mobile phone continued to ring after the plane was downed, The West Australian reported.
'We believe that Fatima could be alive - this is why we're going on this trip,' she said.
Mrs Rudhart-Dyczynsk and her husband Jerzy (George) Dyczynski, who live in Mosman Park, left Perth Airport to fly Amsterdam on Thursday wearing t-shirts emblazoned with their daughter's picture and the words 'Fatima We Love You'.
Dr Dyczynski vowed he and his wife would 'go on our own' to the Ukrainian war zone where MH17 was shot down if it is discovered Miss Dyczynski's body is among the 100 feared missing, after officials warned victims' families against travelling to the region.
Former Perth talkback radio host Howard Sattler, who is close friends with Dr Dyczynski and Mrs Rudhart-Dyczynsk and has spent every day with them since the crash, said they believed there was a remote possibility she could have survived.
Mr Sattler said that since Friday the 'deeply religious' couple had been watching footage about the crash on television hoping to see anything that might say their daughter is alive.
'Their faith is keeping them going,' he told Daily Mail Australia.
'They believe the freezing temperatures up there would be counteracted by the explosion and on that basis she may have survived.
'People may say "How could she survive a fall of 30,000 feet?" but it has happened in extremely rare cases that the seat has remained intact.
'There are still 16 people confirmed to not have been found at all.'
Mr Sattler became friends with Dr Dyczynski, a cardiologist and acupuncture practitioner, after seeing him as a patient.
He said the couple moved to Australia after their daughter 'fell in love with the place' when she spent a year as a student at Perth's John XXIII College in Year 11.
Mr Sattler said all three had applied for permanent residency and had received it this week.
'Posthumously she's an Australian I guess,' he said.
Mr Sattler said the couple would arrive in Amsterdam on Thursday afternoon AEST, and their plans depended on whether Miss Dyczynski's remains were among those transported to The Netherlands.
- Daily Mail
