Dream comes true as mom and daughter become co-pilots on a Southwest flight
Flying is a family affair.

Like mother like daughter.
Dreams come in many shapes and sizes. For Keely Petitt, it was a vision of becoming a pilot just like her mom, Captain Holly Petitt. That wish recently came true, and was made all the more special as mom and daughter took to the skies together.
A statement released by Southwest Airlines shared that Holly began as a flight attendant fresh out of college, where she first discovered her passion for flying. She pursued getting certified and taking flight lessons all while being a full-time mom, and her children quite literally grew up around the "ups and downs" of aviation life.
Captain Holly Petitt and her daughter, First Officer Keely Petitt, piloted a flight from Denver to St. Louis. https://t.co/22WmhwXoGn
— FOX 5 Atlanta (@FOX5Atlanta) July 31, 2022
Keely knew she wanted to follow her mother's footsteps at the age of 14—earning her pilot license and landing an internship for Southwest in 2017.
Though working for Southwest has “always been the end goal” for Keely, she had no idea that on July 23 she would end up co-piloting Flight 3658 with her mom, Holly. The mother-daughter duo flew together from their home town of Denver, Colorado, to St. Louis, Missouri—a historic first for the airline.
“They're breaking barriers and empowering women of all ages to pursue their dreams in aviation, and pun intended, reach for the skies,” Southwest wrote.
As for Captain Holly, having her daughter as first officer has been a “dream come true.”
"First, I found this career and fell in love with it, and then that one of my kids fell into this and in love with this career too. It's surreal,” she reflected.
Holly posted a touching message on her Facebook, sharing how much the moment meant to her.
“The much anticipated maiden voyage as the first mother daughter team at Southwest Airlines has arrived! It’s been a very emotional morning for me. One moment you are holding this tiny little premature baby in your arms and in a blink of an eye she is sitting next to you on the flight deck of a Boeing 737 jet! I love you to the moon and back, Keely Petitt!” the captain read, alongside a photo showing Holly and Keely smiling in their matching uniforms.
Though having a mother-daughter pilot team is a first for Southwest, this is not the first story of its kind. Back in 2020, Captain Suzy Garrett and her First Officer Donna Garrett became the first mother-daughter pilot pair for SkyWest Airlines.
That doesn’t make this occasion any less heartwarming, though. And if moms and daughters co-piloting is becoming a trend, we’re more than ready to see it take off.
But why stop there? Alaska Airlines also recently announced that identical twin brothers finished flight simulation training and have plans to fly together as well. Piloting can quite easily become a family business, it seems.
Congratulations to Keely and Holly for pursuing their dreams and making our hearts soar. You’re proving that perhaps the sky isn’t the limit after all.
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."