His first reaction to AirAsia’s first major crisis was to fly immediately to Surabaya, where the flight originated, to be close to the families of the missing passengers.
Kalimullah Hassan, director of AirAsia X - the group’s long-haul arm - told The Straits Times "we were all devastated" after hearing the news, but "this guy said we got to sort it out and we can cry about it later".