{"id":21551,"date":"2025-08-02T09:59:39","date_gmt":"2025-08-02T13:59:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/?p=21551"},"modified":"2025-08-02T09:59:39","modified_gmt":"2025-08-02T13:59:39","slug":"grandmother-receives-big-surprise-when-she-realizes-her-pilot-is-her-grandson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2025\/08\/grandmother-receives-big-surprise-when-she-realizes-her-pilot-is-her-grandson.html","title":{"rendered":"Grandmother Receives Big Surprise When She Realizes Her Pilot is Her Grandson"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Gina Abinet<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Shurtz, however, decided to meet her along her travel route instead, which meant contacting the crew to switch routes. \u201cPart of that, I had to contact the crew that was operating the flight, so I called the captain, and I said, \u2018Hey, I have a question, and I need some help,\u2019\u201d Shurtz told ABC4<\/em><\/a>. \u201cShe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shurtz has a special connection to his grandmother, Carolyn, who raised him along with her husband, Shurtz\u2019s 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\u2019s intercom. \u201cThey supported me. They\u2019ve done everything they could to help me get to where I am today,\u201d said Shurtz. As Carolyn listened, she slowly started to realize who was piloting the plane.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen when she realizes it\u2019s me, I\u2019ll 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\u2019s when I got nervous. But I was extremely excited because it sunk in that this is real. This is actually happening,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the news outlet, Carolyn spoke of how proud she was of her grandson. \u201cI know how hard we struggled and how well they\u2019re doing. You understand? And so that was my biggest thing, just how proud he made me at that moment,\u201d she said. She also spoke of her late husband, who died before he could fly with Shurtz on a passenger plane. \u201cHe never would\u2019ve left his side,\u201d she said. \u201cHe would have been right there with him if he could have been there. He said, \u2018Scoot over, I\u2019m sitting by Justin.\u2019 He would have been extremely, extremely, extremely pleased. Yes. And he is. He is, yes.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":21554,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiring-messages"],"yoast_head":"\nGrandmother Receives Big Surprise When She Realizes Her Pilot is Her Grandson<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An American Airlines pilot surprises his grandmother by flying her plane\u2014leading to a tearful mid-flight reunion she'll never forget.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link 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