(I sent this email to AirAsia.)

That day, the sky from the large window of the AirAsia lounge was clear. I was preparing to return to Jakarta after watching Manchester United lose to the ASEAN All Stars. As soon as I sat down on the plane, an overwhelming sleepiness overcame me, and I fell asleep instantly.

I woke up to the smell of Santan hot meals being distributed to passengers (not me). With my eyes still heavy, I checked my phone, and it seemed that almost half the journey had passed. I went back to sleep.

In a semi-conscious state, I heard the pilot announce that it was raining heavily in Jakarta, which I didn’t take too seriously as the weather was unpredictable in my country. Soon enough, I heard that we were preparing to land, and that was when the fear started to creep in.

Throughout my flying experience, this was the first time I had experienced such turbulence. My body seemed to be swaying, and I even felt very nauseous and dizzy. Initially, the child passengers appeared to be enjoying themselves. They woohooed and wahooed as if it were a roller coaster ride. It was only when the pounding continued for a long time that they fell silent and said in a stifled tone, ‘Ya Allah, ya Allah.’ The passenger next to me, in seat B, began to recite the prayer aloud. I, who had been saying istighfar since the first turbulence, also began to recite the prayer aloud.

If I remember correctly, the aircraft lights soon went out (it’s normal when we’re about to land at night, still, I was terrified), and the turbulence continued. A turbulence I had never experienced. Again and again, a passenger from seat D asked if we had gone down or not. I glanced at the window, and everything was dark.

When I could finally see the flickering lights on the ground, the turbulence was still going on. My body still felt like it was swaying, and I wanted to throw up. I could feel the aircraft speeding up through the rainstorm and clouds.

Suddenly, the emergency light on the emergency exit lit up. I became even more anxious. I tried to calm myself that if we were close to landing, the lights would indeed come on. Isn’t that right? My brain imagined the worst-case scenario, ‘Are we going to get out of the emergency exit???’

Not long after, I saw the aircraft’s landing path, but relief was not yet present. We still had to land. What if the path was slippery? I continued to chant a prayer.

I breathed a sigh of relief and literally clapped my hands as the plane landed very smoothly without any bumpiness. It really was a relief. Instantly, I remembered a friend’s story about planes that had to return to the original airport or land in another city because Soekarno-Hatta was impenetrable.

Thank you, Mr. Pilot Joffani, on flight AK-386 on Thursday, May 29, 2025, at 18:35. I had thanked you directly that night when I had to return to the aircraft because my passport was left in the seat sleeve. But I also wanted to give a testimonial directly to Mr. Tony Fernandes to read. You deserve credit for safely bringing us all in for a smooth landing in very bad weather.

Mr. Tony Fernandes, your team is fantastic! I have been an AirAsia passenger since 2010, the year I got a decent job and finally had the funds to buy free seat tickets and go on holiday overseas. On AirAsia Indonesia’s 10th anniversary, I won the AirAsia blog competition that took me to Nepal. Success always. Because of you, everyone indeed can fly. Happily. Safely.