It doesn’t take superpowers like that of Hulk and Thor to be a hero, it takes courage, dedication and bravery. 21-year-old Anthonius Gunawan Agung could have escaped had he not stayed put in the control room to make sure that the last flight was safely in the air when the Palu earthquake struck.

A young air traffic controller at Mutiara SIS Al-Jufri Airport in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Agung died on September 28, 2018 after jumping off a collapsing tower after he ensured the last commercial flight had cleared the runway.

"When the earthquake occurred, Agung had cleared Batik Air for takeoff. He waited until the aircraft was safely in the air before leaving his air traffic controller cabin," said Yohanes Sirait, a spokesman for state-owned flight navigation service AirNav Indonesia.

The captain of the flight Agung saw off before he died was Batik Air pilot Ricosetta Mafella. A post on his Instagram account mentions Agung’s last words to be “Batik 6231 runway 33 clear for take off.” He granted the captain the request to take off three minutes ahead of schedule.

Prayers and gratitude have been pouring in for this hero ever since the news of his demise and act of bravery spread.

1.

A heroic act.

Safe flight to Heaven, Agung.

Rest In Peace. 🙏🏽 https://t.co/Cez835sWJh — Gerlien C. Tampilang (@gctampilang) September 29, 2018

2.

A true hero, may Antonius Gunawan Agung be long remembered. https://t.co/TPaUYuEZst — Girish Sawlani (@Girishsawlani) September 29, 2018

3.

Agung, the young air traffic controller from Palu who died, is being honoured by his employers, AirNav Indonesia, who will raise his ranking by two levels. https://t.co/oEhp9NoXC0 — Kate Walton (@waltonkate) September 29, 2018

4.

I found #AntoniusAgung FB and instagram accounts. So young, seems he was a good lad, and loved. Respect❤️🇮🇩 pic.twitter.com/uWYEIAGS9r — irineगायत्री (@gayatriveda) September 30, 2018

Agung might not have made it out alive, but because of him, there are hundreds who will live and receive help. For that, he deserves to be saluted.