A United Airlines Boeing 767 captain used his long layover in Amsterdam to perform a moonlight mission in Poland and Ukraine, providing help to a people and nation in great need of support.
A Special Ukraine Mission For Off-Duty United Airlines Captain
Shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Captain Brett Anderson, who has spent 27 years as a United Airlines pilot, operated his regularly-scheduled service from Washington Dulles (IAD) to Amsterdam (AMS). But rather than relax in his hotel room during his 48-hour stopover, Anderson did something much more epic.
After arriving in Amsterdam, he quickly hopped on a KLM flight to Krakow (KRK), picked up a rental van, and drove to a supply depot outside of town. There, he loaded his van with supplies and drove to Hrebenne, Poland, a city at Ukrainian border not far from Lviv. The supplies, which were used to serve the throngs of refugees pouring over the border into Poland, provided vital nourishment.
Mission accomplished?
Not quite.
Anderson learned there was a van over the border in Ukraine that needed to be driven into Poland. The problem? No driver, in part because all Ukrainian men between the ages of 18 and 60 are not allowed out of the country due to military draft requirements.
So Anderson volunteered (even though he had promised his wife he would not step into Ukraine).
Anderson walked across the border by foot, where an incredulous Ukrainian solider let him through. He then walked to a nearby refugee camp, meeting with refugees and seeing first-hand the blight of war before driving the van back into Poland.
After sleeping for a few hours at a farm housing refugees, Anderson broke his fast with a young family who had escaped Ukraine: a mother with two children. She had no idea where her husband was.
It was time to return to Krakow. Anderson drove five Ukrainian refugees to the rail station in Krakow before returning to Amsterdam on KLM. He slept, then operated his flight back to Washington Dulles the following day.
CONCLUSION
I find this story inspiring and salute Captain Anderson for sacrificing his time to help those in need. Truly, he has done more than I have to bring help, however small, to the people of Ukraine. May we all do likewise.
Kudos to him for stepping up. Not so keen on lying to his wife.
I don’t know that I would have mentioned to my wife I was crossing the border either. But sometimes opportunity knocks and we have to answer the call.
No evidence he “lied”.
More likely scenario:
Pilot: “Honey, you know how I said I wasn’t going to go INTO Ukraine? Well, I’m going to because this thing needs to be done.”
Wife: “I don’t like it, but be careful and don’t do anything even more stupid.”
Bingo. Sometimes things get lost in translation. I told her I wouldn’t go if I thought it was dangerous, and, after assessing the situation at that time and in that particular region, I decided it wasn’t. I told her afterwards because I knew if I told her beforehand she would just sit there and needlessly worry. There was no lie.
UA has the best crew members!
Hey violated several FARs and company FOM. But he’ll get away with it because it would look bad if he got disciplined.
What did he violate?
I violated no FARs nor the company FOM. Had more way more rest than a 737 pilot gets on the average layover, And the FOM has no prohibitions on what you can do with your own time on a layover. No idea what clown Pete is talking about.
What a class act. No doubt he is a Christian man.
Matthew said “broke his fast” which is a common term used by Muslims during this month of Ramadan. Anderson could have been Muslim. Kindness is a trait shared by all humans. Let’s celebrate his generosity, not his religious affiliation.
Ramadan fasting didn’t begin until April 1st. Considering the timeline, it’s possible he was either Orthodox or Catholic fasting March 2nd.
Update on the status of my in-laws in Ukraine: Western Lviv region is relatively safe and Odessa, although facing attack, has significantly reinforced including at a beach I was just at a few months ago which is now mined. My wife’s cousins say they would like to stay in Ukraine and would prefer it as compared to emigrating to the west either permanently or temporarily.
The help provided by the United pilot, albeit small, is appreciated.
The article states he “broke his fast” after getting a few hours of sleep, also known as “breakfast”…ya know, that thing we do after we wake up. Breakfast. Literally breaking ones fast. Nothing in this article is implying religion. Chill out, zealots.
Yes, I meant breakfast.
Of course. Objective readers would know this haha!
I hope the aethists get to him in time to save him.
Who cares what religion the guy adheres to, if any? He helped out people in need and showed that he was a good person. Would he be any worse of a person for doing these wonderful acts if he was a Hindu or belonged to the Church of Satan? I think not.
What a clown remark. This is a wonderful man, regardless of his religious affiliation.
The western countries have been busy seizing the wealth of the oligarchs.
Spokesman peskov had his assets seized because they were disproportionate to his civil service salary. The western countries would have been ok not seizing their assets if there had been no war. The western countries will go after their own citizens more zealously than known foreign corrupt oligarchs using their monetary systems. Western countries have shaky morals, ethics that are leaned on conveniently at the opportune time.
Everyone should read former Estonian presidents interview on refrl.org
Europe is a den of liars, backstabbers and thieves. Why the US government is keen to help that scum over its own citizens is beyond me.
Troll farm working early today comrade?
Thx so much to Capt Anderson.
What a compassionate, wonderful human being.
We can all learn something from him.
If the opportunity is there, take it.
Bless him and the unfortunate people suffering through the war.
What is wrong with you people? What difference does it make the religion of the person? Get your heads out of your asses, help your fellow man and stop whining. Remember
Your messiah preached do onto others as you would have them do onto you.
I’ve known Brett Anderson since he started at United.
His humanity does not surprise me at all!
Religion should be the last thing in this topic, did he operate his flight or dead-headed back to Dulles? If he operated the flight, did he sleep the amount of hours required to operate a safe flight back home? His gesture is admired.
It’s really admirable what he did. However, as an airline pilot myself, I question how much rest he actually got and if he was fatigued on his duty flight back to the states. Again, very admirable, but at what expense to the people on his flight back to IAD…?
I knew someone would find something to criticize me about, it’s human nature to tear others down. By the time I hit back to my hotel in AMS, I had over 17 hours before I had to fly back the next day. Way more rest than someone flying a 737 domestically gets on a regular basis.
Brett, your United family admires you❗️
Thanks for sharing, Matthew. And kudos to you, Brett. I’m sure your wife, although she may be chagrined, is proud of you. 🙂
While good intentioned without doubt, I believe its irresponsible to his employer to potentially risk his ability to operate his return flight due to fatigue or some sort of detainment.
If you are going to do this in the future please don’t do it on your scheduled work trip.