Two brothers from Redding were on-board that Ethiopian Airliner that crashed over the weekend killing 157 people. Mel and Bennett Riffel were embarking on one last adventure before Mel's daughter is born in May. The brothers had been on vacation in Australia and were heading home. Mel's pregnant wife had been with the men but had headed home earlier and was not on the flight.
The two went to Shasta High School and were parishioners at St. Joseph Church.The Riffel's mother is the parish secretary. According to KRCR-TV, which reports the church will offer a special prayer at the base of the bell tower this morning at 8:15am