Posted on 10/02/2018 2:54:24 PM PDT by Simon Green
"He is our national hero," says Batik Airways pilot Ricosetta Mafella.
He is describing the Indonesian air traffic controller whose last act before he died was making sure the plane Mr Mafella was piloting safely escaped the earthquake and tsunami which has devastated Palu in Indonesia.
Mr Mafella believes Mr Agung may have saved his life and those of his passengers. He has described him as a "guardian angel".
On Friday afternoon, Anthonius Gunawan Agung, 21, was at the control tower of Palu airport as Mr Mafella's Batik Airways plane was on the runway.
"I was rushing to leave. There was a voice in my head that told me, just get out of here immediately," said Mr Mafella, 44. "I told my crew and the ground crew to speed up."
At 18:02, the plane took off. Less than a minute later, the 7.5 magnitude quake struck.
As the control tower started to shake, people around Mr Agung fled, but he watched to make sure the plane was airborne.
His last words were "Batik 6321 clear for take off".
Then, apparently finding his way out blocked, he jumped from the crumbling tower. He died while awaiting treatment.
...............
Yohannes Sirait, spokesman for Air Navigation Indonesia, told news outlet ABC Mr Agung's decision had potentially saved hundreds of others.
He has been posthumously promoted by two levels "as a form of appreciation for his outstanding dedication towards the deceased" said the organisation.
"Agung dedicated himself to his job until the end of his life and did not leave the control tower until the plane took off," Didiet KS Radityo, the corporate secretary for Air Navigation Indonesia, told the Jakarta Post.
(Excerpt) Read more at google.com ...
How sad.
Someone/s on that plane was meant to live for some future purpose.
Brave soul .
There are yet heroes among us.
RIP Anthonius Gunawan Agung.
According to the article the airplane took off before the earthquake struck. Does the writer have the timeline skewed?
ping
“According to the article the airplane took off before the earthquake struck. Does the writer have the timeline skewed?*
I picked up on that right away as well maybe this article was translated into English?
Prayers to his family...
Best I can tell the pilot had some mystical urge to leave. So he left a minute before the earthquake which was probably 3 minutes before the Tsunami hit. The controller stayed at his post but it doesn’t appear that he knowingly got the plane airborn in order to beat the Tsunami.
I’m still searching for the time delay between the EQ and the tsunami - probably was more than 3 minutes - but less than 30 minutes.
The above article talks about a warning system that wasn’t functional due to agency friction over $69,000. The US Science Foundation gave them $3 million that was already spent on the system.
BTW - the tsunami warning is the earthquake itself. If you are on a beach or low area and feel a quake - head to high ground, and/or a tall building. And figure out what you will do BEFORE it happens. I’m guessing most vacationers to the beaches (including the Oregon and Washington coasts) don’t think of that.
I can’t find anything definite. I did see that the EQ was 50 miles away from the bay, and that tsunami waves can travel 500 mph in deep ocean (so 6 minutes from EQ to wave arrival). The quake was on/near the shoreline, so probably shallow water which slows the wave down - so maybe more like 12 minutes??
Just thinking in my own mind how much time one would have to flee.
Here on the Washington coast some of the popular beaches the tsunami would arrive within 20 minutes of the large EQ out in the ocean. Of course parts of those beaches and communities will take more than 20 minutes to evacuate.
Some of the towns have built tall buildings designed for a tsunami to allow for vertical evacuation. But it will be bad when it happens. One town has one or two senior care centers within the tsunami zone. They have said that at the moment, with their limited resources, they would not even attempt to help there, but focus on the two schools in the flood zone where the kids would have a chance.
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