One Friday the 13th, bad luck led to an act of kindness.
United flight 2480 (UA2480) took off from San Francisco at 1:01 p.m. on Sept. 13 and was scheduled to land a little after 7 p.m. in Houston, Texas.
Then, things took a turn mid-air.
“I had noticed that there were no flight attendants, they all went in the back for whatever reason,” Tanya Stamos, a passenger on the flight, tells TODAY.com. “That was before the captain said anything. I was like, ‘Huh, that’s kind of odd.’”
Stamos says the captain eventually got on the loudspeaker and asked for help from any medical professionals who may have been on board. Some time after those volunteers disappeared into the back of the plane, the captain got back on the intercom to say that there would be an emergency landing in New Mexico.
“The plane just kind of diverted,” she says. “Really, you could tell we’re going in for a quick landing.”
According to stats from FlightAware, UA2480 was diverted to Albuquerque International Sunport and landed at 4:15 p.m.
Stamos says an ambulance was there to meet the plane when it landed, and a passenger was rushed off before the rest of the passengers were deplaned.
The emergency landing resulted in a delay, which then pushed some UA2480 crew members over the maximum shift hours allowed by the Federal Aviation Administration. So, legally, Stamos and the rest of the passengers had to wait for a new group of flight attendants before they could get to their final destination.
“There was a flight coming in from Chicago, like, way later in the evening,” Stamos says.
The new flight crew was due to arrive in time for a 10:30 p.m. departure, according to emails and texts sent from United to passengers and viewed by TODAY.com. Each passenger was initially given a meal voucher at 7:15 p.m., according to the reviewed texts, which was hours after they started waiting.
Then, more bad luck came.
“The captain goes, ‘Well, just to let you know, this airport is getting ready to close in about 15 minutes,’” Stamos said. According to the ABQ website, restaurants in the airport close t 9 p.m.
In a heroic effort to feed the flyers, their pilot had a heartwarming idea for dinner: a pizza party.
Stamos later posted about the experience on TikTok.
“Our pilot is absolutely amazing,” she wrote. “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 and (then) made sure all 150 passengers ate before he made himself a plate.”
TODAY.com was unable to independently verify the number of pizzas ordered. Representatives for United Airlines confirmed there were 153 passengers on the flight.
Representatives for United Airlines declined TODAY.com’s request be put in touch with the pilot, but do applaud him for his kind action.
“We love to see our pilots go above and beyond for our customers when the unexpected happens,” a United representative tells TODAY.com via email. “This flight diverted due to a medical concern with a passenger, and we worked to get customers back on their way to Houston quickly.”
Stamos adds that the pilot organized the pizza line the only way that would make sense for a group of people sitting at a departure gate: by passenger seat assignments.
“I just thought it was so nice,” Stamos says. “He stood there while everybody got pizza and then when one box was empty, he took that box and replaced it with a full pizza.”
Eventually, the replacement flight crew arrived and the passengers made their way to Houston, landing in the early morning hours.
Stamos says the extended delay left her with a surprising feeling of positivity.
“Everybody always thinks of something negative happening in this world — this world is doomed,” Stamos says, reflecting on the pilot’s act of kindness. “What I take away from it is that goodness always prevails, you know?”
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