Indonesian air traffic controller hailed as a hero after staying behind ‘so plane could take off’

This man is a hero

An air traffic controller has been hailed as a hero after he sacrificed his own life to ensure a plane carrying dozens of people safely took off during an earthquake in Indonesia. 21-year-old Anthonius Gunawan Agung was on duty at an airport near the city of Palu when a 7.5 magnitude quake hit Indonesia's Sulawesi island on Friday. Despite the powerful tremors, which caused a tsunami, he didn't leave his tower. "When the quake happened, he was giving clearance to Batik Air to take off and waited for the plane to be safely airborne before finally leaving the ATC cabin tower," said Yohanes Harry Sirait, a spokesman for Indonesia's air traffic control service. Agung was forced to jump from the top of the crumbling four-story tower in a bid to escape, breaking his leg and suffering serious internal injuries. He was taken to hospital, where he later died from his injuries. His body was carried by soldiers as he was transported for burial. https://twitter.com/AirNav_Official/status/1045974633483096064 The pilot of the jet said the tower collapsed just after he got take-off clearance and he posted a video from the cockpit on Instagram, which he said shows the tsunami waves hitting the island. He said if it were 30 seconds later he and his passengers would not have got airborne. https://www.instagram.com/p/BoRttnsn5po/