Family’s Flight To Spain Gets Delayed So Dad Pilots Airplane Himself

Sep 16, 2019 by apost team

A British pilot gave the passengers of an easyJet plane a happy surprise on a trip to Spain. Michael Bradley was looking forward to a relaxing vacation in Alicante with his wife and baby son when the plane couldn’t take off because its pilot was absent.

Sitting in the Manchester airport at three in the morning, Michael’s wife suggested that he offer to pilot the aircraft with some friendly arm-twisting. Michael later joked that she had actually hit him in the head until he agreed to offer his services to easyJet.

Calling easyJet’s customer service number, Michael explained the situation. Saying that he was a pilot and had his license with him, Michael was happy to volunteer his services to the airline for the flight to Alicante. The representative said that the company would contact him soon with an answer. A minute later, easyJet called back with an affirmative response.

apost.com

As the passengers boarded the plane, Michael addressed everyone on board over the plane’s speaker system. Telling them everything that transpired, Michael hoped that everyone would be okay with his lack of professional pilot’s uniform. The plane then erupted into cheers as the passengers gave their assent to Michael taking charge of their flight. Michelle Plotts, a passenger on the flight, recorded Michael’s speech and uploaded it to Facebook, where it quickly went viral. Michelle said that the flight probably would have been canceled if it had not been for Michael, calling him a legend, reports The Independent.

A spokesperson for easyJet thanked Michael for helping the airline get their passengers from Manchester to Alicante. The company said that the delay was caused by air traffic control problems in France, which forced them to rely on standby pilots and staff for many of their flights. easyJet further stressed that the situation was exceptional and that they made sure that Michael was a fully accredited pilot and in good shape to operate a plane before allowing him to pilot the flight.

What do you think of how Michael stepped up to pilot the plane even though he was on vacation? What would you do in a similar situation?