Mandy Moore’s Dad Is an American Airlines Pilot — and She Finally Got to Go to Work With Him

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Actress Mandy Moore has become quite the travel sensation in recent months. After all, she has scaled both Mount Kilimanjaro and reached Everest base camp with ease. And now, Moore is sharing a bit more about her travels, only this time she made it a true family affair.

Over the weekend, Moore posted a series of images on her Instagram account of herself in the cockpit of a plane alongside the pilot. However, this wasn’t just any old pilot, but rather, it was her own father flying the plane.

“I was today years old when I finally visited my dad at work,” Moore wrote about her special time with her dad, who was celebrating a major workplace milestone with his famous daughter.

“He’s been a captain at @americanair since before I was born (he just celebrated his 40 year anniversary at the company- go dad!) and today was my first time ever flying with him,” she explained.

Moore also noted her stepmother is also an American Airlines crew member, who also happened to be working on the flight as well.

“I got some face time with both them on their breaks and took the requisite cockpit shots before we left London,” she said adding, “the landing was [thumbs up], dad. BEST TRIP HOME EVER.”

As proud as Moore was for her father, it appears the airline was just as proud of him too.

"We are truly proud of the American Airlines family, and Mandy is also a member of our family as well," Ross Feinstein, spokesman for American Airlines told USA Today. "Captain Don has been a pilot with American since 1979 – and is currently a Boeing 777 captain; you can see they are on a 777 in the photo. Mandy’s stepmother has also been a flight attendant with American for nearly 30 years.” Feinstein added, “We are thrilled they were able to spend the flight together from London to Los Angeles."

Weird Reasons Planes Turn Around Mid-flight

Turning a plane around mid-flight is a rare occurrence and is often due to some sort of pressing mechanical issue. But on occasion an unforeseeable, non-technological event happens that forces the plane to make an unexpected u-turn. That’s exactly what happened Thursday night when a plane going from New York to Tennessee had to make an emergency landing in West Virginia—because a bird hit the windshield.

Airport spokesman Mike Plante said the pilot alerted air traffic controllers they were going to make an emergency landing at 4:50 p.m., after a bird struck the plane and cracked the windshield.

It's not the only flight to have been forced to turn around because of encounters with birds. Earlier this week a plane lost an engine because of a bird strike, causing the Washington, D.C.-bound flight to return to Key West International Airport. Flight FR3445 to Palma de Mallorca in Spain returned to Manchester Airport after the plane collided with a bird shortly after takeoff. An American flight returned mid-journey to JFK Airport after the pilot hit a flock of geese after takeoff. And in 2010 a Beirut flight had to turn around when a bird got caught in the plane’s fan blades. Luckily, no one was injured in these cases, and the planes made it safely to the ground.

These freak events aren’t the only bizarre things to happen to or on a plane that force it to turn around. Over the years there’s been tales stories of airborne incidents that have caused mid-air detours. From odd smells and foreign creatures taking over the cabin to a mystery illness and an impromptu passenger performing Whitney Houston, these are some of the weirdest reasons planes have had to turn around.

Jordi Lippe-McGraw is a Contributing Digital Reporter with Travel + Leisure. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @WellTraveler.