Some heartwarming news is coming out of the Sunshine State after a commercial pilot made many of his social media followers virtually cry after sharing a touching clip of his father aboard his American Eagle flight earlier this week.
“A few bumps on the way, but I’m going to try and make it as smooth as possible because we have a VIP on board,” Anselm Winston said to passengers onboard a flight from Charleston, South Carolina, to Miami, Florida. Giving a little information about the special guest, Winston stated he hailed from “Kingston, Jamaica, born in the small town of Portmore, Jamaica.”
“He migrated to Toronto, Canada, in the late ’60s, I do believe, and then he migrated down to New Jersey, and now he lives in the nice little town of Kennesaw, Georgia,” he continued before going on to reveal the particular person is his father, Ashman.
The trip was a special one for Winston, who revealed that in the almost ten years since he’s held his commercial pilot’s license, this was the first time his father had been on a plane flown by him. He began to get emotional as he shouted his father, who also happened to celebrate his birthday one day before their special flight.
“I’m just trying to hold the tears back, I didn’t think I’d cry but this is a very special and very important flight to me because it’s the first one with my father and I’m just very thankful and very blessed to have my father on board,” he said emotionally. “Dad, I thank you for everything you’ve done for me and I’ll try to make this the greatest flight he’s ever had,” he aded.
“It’s been even longer that I’ve wanted to be able to share an experience with my Dad that he’d never forget,” the 34-year-old wrote in the caption. “The stars aligned and I was finally able to get my Dad out on a trip with me on the jet.”
He ended his post addressing his father, writing, “Dad, I’m thankful, I’m blessed and I hope I’ve made both you and Mom proud.” He added, “I hope you enjoyed the ride.” Winston’s speech was met with mild applause from flight attendants.
Meanwhile, social media users gushed at the sweet moment in the comment, section, including one person who wrote, “Sirrrr you didn’t have to make me cry! 😢❤️.” “Aww man. This is so sweet! Absolutely amazing man! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾,” expressed another.
Winston’s clip has since gone viral and ended up on blog sites such as The Shade Room, where folks further commented on the clip, including critiquing the response the pilot received from the predominantly white passengers. Many felt that they weren’t empathetic enough toward Winston, including one user who wrote, “These people are not as touched as they should’ve been lol.”
Another user commented, “Uhn uh. That plane not hype enough for meeee. Errybody need to be clapping and cheering. Put some mo respect on pops 🙌🏾❤️😍.”
A third said, “the passengers failed the vibe check tbh … but glad they shared that moment❤️ I love having a black pilot.”
