Southwest Pilot Holds Plane So Man Can Visit Dying Grandson

A Southwest Airlines pilot held a flight so Mark Dikinson could say goodbye to his dying grandson.

By Kathryn Hawkins. Posted on January 16 2011

Mark Dikinson, a man from Arizona, was visiting Los Angeles when he got some awful news: His 2-year-old grandson, Caden Rogers, had been gravely injured by his mother’s abusive boyfriend. The child was on life support, and Dikinson had just hours to say his goodbyes before the life support was removed.

But Dikinson wasn’t sure if he’d even have that chance. Though he’d arrived for his flight two hours early, a long line at security made him late for his Southwest Airlines flight. He raced to the gate in his socks, but he didn’t arrive until 12 minutes after the flight’s scheduled departure.

He was sure that the plane would have already taken off, and that he’d missed his chance to see his dying grandson. But as it turned out, a phone call from Dikinson’s wife had alerted the pilot to the sad situation. He was holding the plane just for him.

Although the pilot could have been subject to a strong reprimand—or possibly even lost his job—for holding the plane without strict orders from an authority, he’d realized how important it was for Dikinson to have those last few minutes with his grandchild.

“I can’t tell him how grateful I am that he did that for me,” Dikinson told KABC News.

Luckily, the pilot, who wishes to remain anonymous, has received only praise for his courageous choice to disobey his higher-ups.

“You can’t hold a plane for every late customer, but I think we would all agree that these were extenuating circumstances and the pilot absolutely made the right decision,” Southwest spokeswoman Marilee McInnis told CNN.

Filed under: General Interest,

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