Anthonius Gunawan Agung’s final words before his death were, “Batik 6321, clear for takeoff,” as a massive earthquake and tsunami ripped through Palu, Indonesia.

The 21-year-old control tower operative had stayed behind in the Palu Aiport office to watch pilot Ricosetta Mafella steer his 148 passengers and crew to safety, but his heroics proved costly when his passage down the turret was blocked off due to the building’s damage from the 7.5 magnitude earthquake.

With the four-story skyscraper trembling, all of his coworkers escaped, leaving him as the sole one who remained. His only way out was to leap, which he did, but he fractured his leg and sustained serious internal injuries.

He was brought to the hospital, where he received only rudimentary care for his wounds, and while waiting for a helicopter to arrive to transport him to a better-equipped institution, he unfortunately died from his injuries.

The Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami struck on September 28, 2018, killing 4,340 people.

When asked about the event at the time, Batik Airways pilot Mafella told the BBC: “I was hurrying to depart. There was a voice in my brain telling me to get out of here immediately.

“I told my crew and the ground crew to speed up.”

Mafella’s jet arrived on the runway at 6:02 pm and departed three minutes early. The 44-year-old referred to Agung as a ‘guardian angel’ and ‘national hero.'”.

While the people onboard had no idea what damage they were leaving behind, Mafella could only watch from the cockpit as massive waves approached from the coast.

“I saw a wave moving in a circle with a huge radius, getting bigger and bigger, but I didn’t know what it was,” he told the magazine.

“I tried calling the air traffic controller a few times to tell him that I saw something, but there was no answer.”

He would only learn later why no one responded to him.

Mafella told the news outlet, “I’m in a WhatsApp group with other air traffic controllers, and one of them told me that they had asked Agung to leave the tower.” But he responded, “Wait, wait; Batik is still here.”

“When I found out what happened, I was speechless.”