A grandmother received a heartwarming surprise when she realized the pilot for her flight was her own grandson. Justin Shurtz is an airline captain from American Airlines when he decided he wanted to surprise his grandmother, who was flying from Chicago to Las Vegas to meet up with Shurtz, who lives in St. George, UT.

Shurtz, however, decided to meet her along her travel route instead, which meant contacting the crew to switch routes. “Part of that, I had to contact the crew that was operating the flight, so I called the captain, and I said, ‘Hey, I have a question, and I need some help,’” Shurtz told ABC4. “She knew I was working. She was expecting me to pick her up in Las Vegas. She had no idea that I was going to show up on her flight.”

Shurtz has a special connection to his grandmother, Carolyn, who raised him along with her husband, Shurtz’s late grandfather who passed away in April. After the flight was boarded, Shurtz shared about how his grandfather and grandmother raised him in Memphis over the flight’s intercom. “They supported me. They’ve done everything they could to help me get to where I am today,” said Shurtz. As Carolyn listened, she slowly started to realize who was piloting the plane.

“Then when she realizes it’s me, I’ll never forget the moment where she jumps out into the aisle and sees me standing there and the look on her face. And at that point, that’s when I got nervous. But I was extremely excited because it sunk in that this is real. This is actually happening,” Shurtz recalled. Video of the pair shows Carolyn giving her grandson an emotional hug as they are reunited. Passengers on the flight were also emotional during the reunion.

Speaking to the news outlet, Carolyn spoke of how proud she was of her grandson. “I know how hard we struggled and how well they’re doing. You understand? And so that was my biggest thing, just how proud he made me at that moment,” she said. She also spoke of her late husband, who died before he could fly with Shurtz on a passenger plane. “He never would’ve left his side,” she said. “He would have been right there with him if he could have been there. He said, ‘Scoot over, I’m sitting by Justin.’ He would have been extremely, extremely, extremely pleased. Yes. And he is. He is, yes.”