United Airlines pilot 'felt bad' after mid-flight emergency led to 7-hour delay so he made a call to surprise all 150 passengers

While traveling by air, passengers hope for one thing above all — to get to their destination quickly without any hassles. A nightmare for travelers is to have trouble in their boarding process. However, another equally frustrating factor is to have unprecedented delays during the flights or worse, to have to make stops before reaching one’s destination. The exhaustion, worry and inconvenience can ruin the trip altogether. A United Airlines flight from San Francisco to Houston, Texas, experienced a 7-hour delay due to an emergency landing, per TODAY. The frustrated passengers had enough of it until the captain, Scott Wardle, came to the rescue with a wholesome gesture, per KTVB.

Things were going well until a medical emergency arose on the plane. Despite efforts from the airlines, staff and medical volunteers onboard, the pilot was forced to make an emergency landing in New Mexico. This caused a delay and passengers were forced to wait around 7 hours before they could fly back to their destination. Sharing a timeline, Tanya Stamos (@ladyt98tanya), one of the passengers, revealed that they made the emergency landing at 4 pm and were delayed. Additionally, the passengers had to wait for another crew to arrive since the current flight attendants had already exceeded their shift hours. In the long wait, the passengers were provided with meal vouchers but the distress was loud. 

To add to this, the pilot was forced to bear more bad news. He said, “Well, just to let you know, this airport is getting ready to close in about 15 minutes.” With no restaurants and being stuck at the airport, one can imagine how much more the frustration increased. However, the pilot felt for them and had a plan. Stamos revealed, “Our pilot is absolutely amazing. He felt so bad for the situation that he ordered 30 pizzas from a local pizza shop and had it delivered right to our gate.” There were around 150 passengers at the time and the pilot selflessly ensured each of them ate well before he could help himself to a plate. In the post shared by the woman, the pilot is seen distributing the pizzas with as much energy as he can. 

A representative from United Airlines applauded the captain’s generosity. They said, “We love to see our pilots go above and beyond for our customers when the unexpected happens. This flight was diverted due to a medical concern with a passenger and we worked to get customers back on their way to Houston quickly.” Despite the journey and flight being an exhausting and bleak one, the pilot’s selfless and kind gesture sure gave a positive twist to the experience. Passengers were glad to have a better highlight to their journey.

Stamos remarked,” It was just so nice.” People commented on the woman’s post, applauding and praising the captain. @jzsweetoz wrote, ‘This warms my heart. Thank you for sharing.” @kimsammons2 added, “So lovely to see such nice things still happening.” Like Stamos, many passengers undoubtedly have a takeaway from this incident. As the passenger remarked, “Everybody always thinks of something negative happening in this world — this world is doomed. What I take away from it is that goodness always prevails.”

You can follow Tanya Stamos (@ladyt98tanya) on TikTok for more wholesome content on lifestyle.