“Parents are the ultimate role models for children. Every word, every movement, and action affects. No other person or outside force has a greater influence on a child than a parent.” – Bob Keeshan
And so, Capt. Wale Makinde, a veteran helicopter pilot and staff member of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority so inspired his three daughters that they all became pilots like him.
By his inspirational leadership, Makinde a native of Ondo town, Ondo State bestowed three remarkable women on Nigeria— Mopelola Makinde, Oluwaseun Makinde, and Oluwafunmilayo Makinde
While Mopelola and Oluwaseun are Helicopter Pilots, Oluwafunmilayo is a fixed-wing Pilot and they are all actively flying.
But the real hero one of the sisters, @fummzzy twitted is their mum.
In September 20222, Hawaiian Airlines witnessed the groundbreaking event of Kamelia and Maria Zarka taking control of a B717, the airline’s first mother-daughter pilot team.
Captain Kamelia Zarka and her daughter, First Officer Maria Zarka, shared the flight deck of the Boeing B717 to operate a series of Neighbour Island flights. This was the first a mother-daughter pairing had flown for Hawaiian Airlines (Hawaiian) in its 93-year history. The pair, looking equally proud of each other and suitably decked out with a lei, greeted passengers at boarding, shared selfies, and encouraged young girls to follow their dreams to the cockpit.
Kamelia has been with Hawaiian for three decades, joining the airline as a flight attendant in 1992. She was born and raised in the Kingdom of Tonga and became the first Tongan woman to captain a commercial airliner.
Before joining Hawaiian as a 717 pilot in April, Maria flew with US carrier Republic Airways in New Jersey for two years. Maria said that people were always telling her how amazing it is to fly with her mom, and now she has also experienced that. “She’s an amazing pilot, and learning from her is learning from one of the best. Now I call her Captain Mom.”
Capt. Holly Petitt and her daughter, First Officer Keely Petitt took off on their inaugural flight together on July 23, 2022, as Southwest Airlines’ first mother-daughter pilot team in the airline’s 55-year history.
“I just keep using the word ‘surreal.’ You have this little baby, you’re holding her in your arms, and in a blink of an eye, there she is sitting on the flight deck next to you. It’s been surreal and a dream come true,” Holly Petitt told “Good Morning America.”
Even though the 53-year-old pilot has been flying for Southwest for the last 18 years in a career that’s spanned two decades, she readily admitted she still got nervous making her in-flight announcement on that memorable Saturday.
“I’m going to interrupt my normally scheduled briefing here for some exciting news. Today is a really special day for me,” the older Petitt said in the announcement, in footage recorded and shared with “GMA” by Southwest. “I would like to introduce to you your first officer, a brand new member of the Southwest team of pilots, and my daughter, Keely Petitt. Keely, come on out here. So, thank you all for being here. This is a very exciting day for us, and for Southwest Airlines, a very special day. We are the first mother-daughter duo ever on the flight deck of Southwest Airlines. So thank you for being here.”
“That was really fun to make that announcement and I was nervous for sure,” Holly Petitt recalled to “GMA.” “But it was just such a special moment. Words really can’t do it justice, but it was a day full of joy.”
