ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – An emergency landing at an airport in New Mexico led to an unexpected act of kindness. A United Airlines pilot went out of his way to cheer up the passengers on the flight. "It just stopped me in my tracks,” said Tanya Stamos, one of the passengers on the flight. Stamos was heading home on a United Airlines flight back in early September traveling from San Francisco, California, to Houston, Texas, when her travel plans took a turn. "We were in the air, I don't know, probably 30-40 minutes, and then all of a sudden the captain gets on and asks if there's, you know, any healthcare professionals any nurses or doctors,” said Stamos. New Mexico DOJ pressures the state to crack down on illegal fencing on public waters Because of a medical emergency, the plane landed somewhere Stamos had never been before, New Mexico. "We were going to wait about 40 minutes and head out, and then they said that we had to get off. We didn't know what was happening, but the stewardess, the flight attendants, ran out of flight time. So, we had to wait." It turned into a seven-hour layover for the passengers at the Albuquerque International Sunport, but Stamos said their thoughts were with the man who was taken in the ambulance. "It's very interesting when you sit there, and you start talking to people and everybody's stories of where they have to go. You know, they got to get home for this, got to get home for that, but everybody just kind of stopped and was thinking, 'We hope this gentleman is okay,'” said Stamos. The passengers were given vouchers for food, but because of the time, not many places were open. Things started to look up when the pilot of the flight put in a call to a local restaurant, ordering pizza for all 150 passengers. "It was seriously 30 pizzas and what I was saying is he stood up there while everybody got pizza. Everybody got pizza. He served the people that were working around us and then he ate, and I'm like, you know what? That's a true leader,” said Stamos. The flight arrived in Texas late that night, and as Stamos left the plane, all she could do was show her gratitude to the pilot. 2024 pet mayor of Corrales announced; all funds heading to animal services "I shook his hand and said, 'Thank you very much for everything,'” said Stamos. In a cheesy ending, she said, “It’s always those small acts of kindness that matter the most.” United Airlines said in a statement, “We love to see our pilots go above and beyond for our customers when the unexpected happens.”