MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - The skies above the Murfreesboro Airport were dotted with clouds Saturday, and the wind was just right.
On the tarmac a group of special needs passengers awaited an opportunity of a lifetime, to fly one of the single engine planes.
One soon to be co-pilot was 13-year-old Reilly Akers.
"Reilly was diagnosed with a genetic syndrome, its called 4p Minus which means her fourth chromosome is missing a piece, it's broken," her father, Michael Akers said.
She can't walk or talk, but soon her spirit will sore.
"Scared of nothing, of course we let her live life as much as she can. She wasn't expected to live past 6 months and she's 13," Akers said.
Down the tarmac, Sean, another co-pilot prepared for take off.
The pilots were volunteers with the Flying Vikings, a non profit organization which has aimed to fulfill a child's dream through aviation.
"Something they'd never be able to do without the Flying Vikings," Sean's mother, Andrea Arnenta said.
Back on the ground each child recieved a certificate and a memory to last a lifetime. "They've never done it before so they were excited," said Arnenta.
The cost to parents: completely free. "A lot of times special needs parents have quite an economic drain on them anyway so having a chance for their children to do something that they normally wouldn't be able to do, it's just a wonderful thing," Akers said.
For anyone interested in learning more about Flying Vikings or wanting to participate next year, click here.
