United Pilot Orders 30 Pizzas to Feed Passengers After Emergency Landing for Medical Care
A United Airlines pilot has become a social media sensation after personally overseeing the order and distribution of 30 pizzas to 155 passengers on his flight.
Now monikered the “Pizza Pilot,” Scott Wardle says that after 30 years of piloting for the Air Force and as a civilian, he knows what it feels like to be stuck at the airport, and that he just “had to do something to show we care.”
Well that care took off, with posts and photos of Wardle handing out pizzas using the check-in counter at the gate as a kitchen counter going viral.
The story began when the Boise-based Wardle was all set for a flight to Phoenix via Houston, but about 45 minutes into the trip, he received a call from the flight crew that a patient had fallen unconscious.
Though there were two nurses and a medic on board, Wardle felt he couldn’t take any chances, and came in for an emergency landing at Albuquerque at 11 p.m. just as the food court was shutting down.
Hoping to get the passage back underway as soon as possible, he suddenly received word that his cabin crew had maxed out their hours, meaning he had to wait for a new set of attendants.
“I made sure to confirm they were on the way with the company, and then I thought, I got to do something with all these people,” Wardle told KTVB 7. “So, I started exploring some options at that point for what I want to do. I came up with the idea of doing pizza for everyone. It’s an easy thing, most people like pizza.”
Wardle says he loves his job, and the only burden he felt during the whole ordeal was compassion and sympathy for the passengers. He picked up the phone and started ordering dozens of pizzas.
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As he began passing them around with plates and napkins, the passengers took notice.
The viral photos and videos reached virtually every corner of Wardle’s social life, with old Air Force buddies and even his graduation class of 1984, and phoning him to say they saw him serving pizza in his pilot uniform.
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“I didn’t think it was that big of a deal, I just did my thing,” Wardle said. “Many pilots in our company do this sort of thing, I just happened to get my picture taken.”
United Airlines insisted on reimbursing him for the pizzas, and applauded a hero of the friendly skies, who waited until every passenger had a slice in their hands before sitting down himself for a pie.
WATCH the video below from KTVB 7…
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