News & Current Events
Pilot Hears Urgent Voice, Takes Off Early, And Saves 148 Lives From Earthquake
Less than a minute before a devastating earthquake struck, a devoted Christian pilot claimed to have heard a voice in his head asking him to “depart early,” presumably saving the lives of the 148 passengers and staff members on board.
Ricosetta Mafella, a pilot for Batik Airways, told the Christian Broadcasting Network that heavy winds caused him to land at Palu airport in Indonesia on September 28, 2018, nine minutes late.
This was supposed to postpone the departure of his subsequent flight, but he claimed to have gotten a word from God instructing him to expedite the process.
He told CBN the voice told him, “Get out of this place. Depart early.”
He added to the BBC: “I was rushing to leave. I told my crew and the ground crew to speed up.”
He was prepared by 5:52 p.m. local time, and his anticipated departure time was 5:55 p.m. At precisely 6:02 p.m., when the earthquake occurred, he was given the all-clear to leave.
At the time, he said on Instagram he ‘felt something wrong on the runway during take off roll’, adding: “Thank God there is a voice (Holy Spirit I believe) telling me to depart early.”
“I’m rushing the boarding process. Late by 30 seconds I would not have flown. Thank You Jesus.”
The epicentre of the 7.5-mag Sulawesi earthquake was located 80 kilometres north of Palu. The earthquake and the ensuing 10-meter-high wave killed 4,340 persons in all. Large-scale landslides are thought to have killed 80% of the victims.
Mafella told CBN: “Oh God thank you so much! God reveals everything – if you are late 1 or 2 seconds, it could be disaster. I don’t need to prove that God is alive. God is real! I have seen it and that is enough for me.”
Thanks in part to the valiant efforts of air traffic controller Anthonius Gunawan Agung, the pilot was able to take off.
In order to allow Mafella’s flight to take off, he made sure to remain in the tower as all around him evacuated.
His last words were, “Batik 6321 clear for take off.”
It was already too late when he attempted to flee. Because there was no way out of the tower, he leaped and died from his wounds before he could get help.
Mafella told the BBC, “I’m in a WhatsApp group with other air traffic controllers and one of them told me that they had asked Agung to get away from the tower.”
“But wait, wait, Batik [Air] is still here,” he said.
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