Sam Tutanuak had a hard time holding back the emotions as he watched his son, James, 33, take off on his first solo flight as a private pilot in Rankin Inlet on Sunday, July 14.
Sam said saying he was proud doesn't even come close to describing how he felt watching his son take off.
He said the experience was beyond belief, to see his son do something that he was never able to have a chance to do in his lifetime.
“His goal is to become a commercial pilot and he mentioned that a couple of Calm Air pilots that he knows are anxious to be flying with him,” said Sam, the pride obvious in his voice.
“My heart wasn't in my mouth as he was taking off. It left my mouth all together.
“My thoughts, at the time, were I hope everything works out for him and he doesn't crash. But, to see him take off on his own and to see this machine be up in the air because of him was just, like, holy.
“We watched from the FOL [forward operating location], so we only got to see the take off. We weren't able to see him land, but, when we saw him taxi in, we drove as fast as we could to the hangar area so we would be able to greet him. I had a lump in my throat the whole time.”
Sam said it truly was a real “pinch me” moment in his life.
He said it was incredible to realize his son had just taken off, flew and landed the aircraft.
“We were told we could get on the ramp and, once he got out of the plane and walked out in front, I just walked up to him and gave him one long hug. I was getting so emotional.
“I gave him that one long hug and, I think, sometimes silence can be stronger than saying anything. He felt the tears coming out of me and then I realized there was more than just me waiting to share how happy we all were.
“We just stood around, all smiles and really felt the moment. It was just pure joy.
“James knew how proud I was of him and that's a truly incredible feeling.”
Sam said James is the first person in his family to ever earn a pilot's licence.
In many ways, he said it was just like having the first person in your family graduate from high school.
“James is the first one and I'm hoping, someday, there will be many more. Becoming a pilot is no small thing.
“Apparently, around the end of August, he's going to be heading down to the East Coast — to Moncton, N.B., I believe — to get more training and whatnot. His journey is just beginning and it's incredible to see him accomplish this.
“He still has a couple of more steps to take and, after that, we'll go from there.
“Watching him take off in that airplane was one of the proudest days of my life.”
