Pilot orders pizza for planeload of passengers after flight gets diverted

‘Rain or shine, our team consistently proves they’re the best in the business,’ says airline

An American Eagle flight was diverted (Wikimedia/Venkat Mangudi)

Not all heroes wear capes: a pilot went and above and beyond for his passengers on a recent flight, ordering them all pizzas after it got diverted.

American Eagle flight 4798 was due to fly from Key West, Florida, to Charlotte, North Carolina on 4 May when storms prevented it from landing.

The flight, which had departed 40 minutes late, was forced to touch down at Charleston, South Carolina, instead.

The aircraft spent an hour and 22 minutes on the tarmac, during which the pilot, identified as John, ordered pizza for all those on border.

Six hours later, the flight finally made it to Charlotte at 8.09pm local time.

An American Airlines spokesperson said of the incident: “We’re incredibly proud of the American Airlines team and our regional partners – including Republic’s crew members – who take great care of our customers every day. Rain or shine, our team consistently proves they’re the best in the business.”

A photo uploaded to Facebook shows the pilot with at least six boxes of takeaway pizza and several family-sized bottles of fizzy drink.

It’s not the first time a pilot has stepped up to the plate.

In 2019, one Air Canada pilot ordered pizzas for an aircraft full of stranded passengers in Fredericton, New Brunswick.

The flight left Toronto on Monday 4 March and was heading to Halifax, Nova Scotia, when it had to divert due to adverse weather.

Passengers were stuck on the snowy runway, going nowhere, when the pilot made the executive decision to order a takeaway – 23 pizzas, delivered to the plane door.

Minglers Restaurant and Pub in Oromocto took the order, with manager Jofee Larivée agreeing to have them delivered in around 90 minutes.

She told CNN that restaurant staff were “laughing all night” about the unusual order.