Back in 2018, when a massive earthquake and tsunami hit Indonesia, Mutiara Sis Al Jufri Airport in Palu was right in the middle of the disaster. On September 28, just minutes before the airport got rocked by a 7.5 magnitude earthquake, there was a plane still on the ground, about to take off.
There were 148 people on board, and the pilot, Ricosetta Mafella, had no clue what was about to happen. He was just sitting in the cockpit like any other flight. But something told him to leave early. That decision? It ended up saving every single person on that plane.
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A pilot felt the urge to take off earlier than scheduled
Mafella later said, “I was rushing to leave. There was a voice in my head that told me, just get out of here immediately.”
He didn’t waste any time. “I told my crew and the ground crew to speed up.” Nobody knew why he was in such a hurry, but they followed his lead.
A young air traffic controller stayed behind to help
Turns out, it wasn’t just a gut feeling that made him take off. There was also someone else watching out for them — 21-year-old Anthonius Gunawan Agung.
Mafella called him his “guardian angel.” Agung was working in the control tower that day, making sure the flight took off safely. Even when things started going bad, he stayed right there, doing his job.
The earthquake struck seconds after takeoff
The timing was unreal. Less than a minute after the plane left the ground, the earthquake hit. Agung was still in the tower. The airport got completely wrecked. And for him, getting out became almost impossible.
The air traffic controller made a desperate escape attempt
With the building crumbling around him, Agung had no choice. He jumped. Four stories. He survived the fall, but the impact broke his leg and caused serious internal injuries.
His coworkers rushed him to the hospital, hoping he’d pull through. Later, they decided he needed to be airlifted somewhere better equipped to treat him. But… he didn’t make it.
His last words cleared the pilot for takeoff
Before everything collapsed, Agung gave one last instruction: “Batik 6321 clear for take off.” That was it. His final words. He made sure that plane got out safely.
The pilot saw the tsunami from the air
Mafella later called Agung a “national hero.” And once the plane was up in the sky, he saw exactly what they had just escaped — huge waves from the tsunami coming straight for the coast.
He tried calling Agung. No response. The last time he saw him, the guy was still in the tower, standing his ground, doing his job, even while everything was shaking apart.
His colleagues urged him to leave, but he refused
Later, Mafella found out that Agung’s coworkers had actually told him to get out. They begged him. But he kept saying, “wait, wait, Batik is still here.” He wasn’t leaving until the plane took off. When Mafella heard that, he was “speechless.”
The earthquake left the airport in ruins
The whole airport got wrecked. The runway cracked, the tower was destroyed, and the place was in chaos. But because of one pilot’s instinct — and one air traffic controller’s sacrifice — 148 people got out alive.
It’s crazy to think how a simple voice can change everything. Sometimes, it’s the smallest instincts that make the biggest difference.
