Pilot flying around the world solo gets a hand from mom in Canada

This summer, Jack Wiegand, 20, hopes to become the youngest pilot to fly around the world solo.

On May 2, Wiegand embarked on the flight of a lifetime, taking off in his hometown of Fresno, California.

His exciting trip began without incident.

"The first day of my around the world journey was a success and I was excited to get started," he blogged.

A few days later, however, Wiegand realized he forgot something: his passport.

"Six months prior to the trip, everything was preparation, you know? It was all doing flight training, getting everything absolutely perfect, and, you know, to forget something like a passport is just something that slipped my mind, I guess," he told the National Post.

He realized the embarrassing oversight after his flight from Morristown, New Jersey to Iqaluit, Nunavut.

"I just handed customs my leather passport case because I was confident it was in there," Wiegand told the Fresno Bee in a telephone interview Thursday. "The officer opened it and said, 'There is nothing in here.' And I couldn't believe it."

"After tearing the plane apart (not literally) for an hour in the -25 degree temperature, my passport was no where to be found. I was so worried that it was either stolen or that I left it at one of my previous stops. I called everyone that might know where it was, and it was no where to be found. The customs officers were very nice and let me proceed into Iqaluit. The big problem was moving onward from Iqaluit," he blogged.

After being "in a panic for two hours," the young pilot called his mom.

"I called my mom again when I got to where I was staying and told her one place where I thought my passport could've been. I remember making photo copies of pages in it, for documentation purposes, before I left Fresno for my flight. I told her to check the copy machine...sure enough, it was there! Wow. What a bittersweet feeling that was. At least I knew it was not stolen. But, at the same time, I was over 3,000 miles away from it. I was sure I had it with me, but apparently I was wrong. It was a mistake that I hope to not make again," he wrote.

He ended up spending an extra two days in northern Canada, waiting for the much-needed document to arrive via courier.

By Friday, Wiegand was back in the air, heading for Iceland.

"I'm sure there's going to be other unforeseen delays on the way," he told the Fresno Bee, "but right now, I'm feeling good to go."

Even adventurers need their moms.

Follow Wiegand's adventure here. He is expected to complete his round-the-world trip on June 8.