He Saw the Plane Crash That Killed His Mom. Now He’s CNN’s Aviation Correspondent: ‘Keep Going’

The memory of watching his mother perform aerobatic maneuvers high above the Culpeper, Va., airport in 2006 is still excruciatingly fresh — and painful — for Pete Muntean.

“It was a beautiful day,” Muntean, who was 18 at the time, tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue. “The sky was crystal blue – perfect weather for flying.” His mom, Nancy Lynn, a pioneer aerobatic pilot, was performing a series of flips at the Culpeper Air Fest when, during a low pass, a wing hit the ground and the plane exploded.

“I can still almost feel the heat on my face,” says Muntean, who ran across the airfield and watched helplessly as the fire engulfed her wrecked plane. “She was screaming. I screamed. It’s a horror I wouldn’t wish on anyone.” Lynn, 56, died of her injuries within 12 hours.

Nearly 18 years later, Muntean has reclaimed his passion for flying and accepted his mother’s legacy to guide it as CNN’s aviation and transportation correspondent.

Pete Muntean and Wolf Blitzer on CNN.

Courtesy of Pete Muntean

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“I love aviation so much, and talking about it is the closest thing to flying,” says the 35-year-old pilot and flight instructor, whose father, Scott Muntean, miraculously survived a plane crash in 1993, then died of brain cancer seven years later.

For more on Pete Muntean’s story, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, or subscribe here.

“Informing people is important,” he says. “I think my mum and dad would be proud.”

Pete Muntean and his parents, Nancy Lynn and Scott Muntean.

Courtesy of Pete Muntean

The only child of two pilots, Muntean became fascinated with aeronautics while growing up in Annapolis, Md.

His father got his pilot’s license in the early 1980s in part to reduce the time he spent traveling for his job selling avionics. When Muntean was a child, his mother, a factory manager for Procter & Gamble, also began taking flying lessons and cashed in her pension to buy an aerobatic biplane.

“There were pictures of airplanes all over the house,” he remembers. “Even if I wasn’t interested in flying, I wouldn’t have much of a choice.”

Pete Muntean and mom Nancy Lynn.

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Muntean was just 5 years old when his father lost an eye in a plane crash in Queenstown, Md. The loss of his mother 13 years later left Muntean – who was her crew chief and air show announcer – shaken and confused.

“She was a really talented pilot,” he says. “There’s not a lot of margin for error in the air, and I think she made a big lapse in judgment that day.”

A week after her death, Muntean reluctantly climbed back into the cockpit, earning his pilot’s license eight months later. “You can’t feel sorry for yourself,” he explains. “You have to go on.”

Pete Muntean.

Courtesy of Pete Muntean

His experience announcing air shows sparked his interest in journalism. In 2008, he interned for then-CNN aviation reporter Miles O’Brien. Sixteen years later, Muntean’s vast knowledge of flying has made him an online rock star.

While stories like the blown doors on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 showcased his reporting skills — “It was like a scene out of a movie,” he says — Muntean also brings a critical eye to issues like the mental health and pilot controversies.

“The FAA has a very short-sighted rule that says if you seek any mental health care or take medication, you lose [your ability to fly]”, he says, explaining that some pilots forgo treatment in order to keep their license.

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“Would you rather have a pilot who is depressed and doesn’t get help or a pilot who is depressed and gets proper treatment?” he adds. “I hope our reporting can lead to a change in these regulations.”

Muntean — who lives in Washington, DC, with his girlfriend Melia Manter, 31 — is used to the 4 a.m. calls from producers to jump on breaking news. Still, he tries to squeeze in flying time in the morning “before things start to change” at work.

“For me, it’s spiritual,” he says, explaining that’s when he feels most connected to his parents. “I can hear their voices, their wisdom and their instructions. I feel protected from them up there.”

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