Pilot Instructor Cries After His Students Gave Him An Emotional Surprise During Flight

• The former students of Turkish Airlines captain pilot Selahattin Onan prepared a touching tribute for their mentor.
• The pilot on duty was also his son, who gave the loveliest tribute of them all.
• He became emotional with the gesture, as the rest of the passengers on the flight.

Getting a pilot’s license is a huge achievement indeed, considering that a pilot is entrusted hundreds of people’s lives on his hands once he or she is on the job. So you can only imagine how truly tough the job of a pilot’s teacher is.

So when a group of pilots from Turkish Airlines found out that their mentor will be on board for a personal trip, they prepared a well-deserved surprise for him – and it was so touching it brought tears to his eyes.

Selahattin Onan, a former captain pilot for Turkish Airlines, got onboard a Turkish Airlines flight.

The pilot on duty at that time was Mithat Okhan Onan, who also happens to be Selahattin’s son.

When the passengers were already settled in, an in-flight clip played featuring pilots who were once students of Selahattin. The pilots shared the learnings and experiences that they had with their mentor. They also took time to greet him Happy Teacher’s Day.

The former captain pilot was visibly moved by the gesture and did his best to hold back tears while watching.

To cap it all off, Mithat spoke via the plane’s PA system and gave a lovely speech in tribute to this father and former teacher.

“Dear passengers, this is your captain speaking. Today is an important day. For 6 years I’ve been a pilot as part of the Turkish Airlines family, and much of that is due to the efforts of my teacher Selahattin Onan, a long-serving teacher who is with us on this place today. It’s a beautiful thing to be able to call your teacher someone who is like a father to you.

Mithat added that his dad has been a captain pilot for 2 decades and that he is “eternally grateful” to have him both as his father and teacher.

At this point, Selahattin couldn’t fight his emotions any longer.

The tears flowed freely and a few moments later, a handful of pilots walked down the aisle and gave him flowers.

The pilot came out of the cockpit to give the warmest greeting of them all.

As expected, the rest of the plane was totally moved by the touching gesture for Selahattin.

You can watch the video here: