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The pilot who safely landed a stricken Southwest Airlines flight was one of the first female fighter pilots in the US Navy, and was accustomed to touching down F-18 fighter jets at 150 miles per hour on aircraft carriers.
Tammie Jo Shults, 56, may have drawn on her Navy skills when one of the two engines on her Boeing 737-700 blew and broke apart at 32,000 feet on Tuesday (local time), forcing her to implement a rapid descent towards Philadelphia International Airport.
A woman died and seven others suffered minor injuries in the incident, which happened shortly after the Southwest Airlines jet departed New York bound for Dallas. Passengers were praised for clinging to a woman who was partially sucked out of a window broken by shrapnel from the exploded engine.
But Ms Shults might never have become a pilot if she had not been so determined to fly from a young age.
She is quoted on fighter plane blog F-16.net, saying she tried to attend an aviation career day at high school but was told they did not accept girls.
A native of New Mexico, she never lost the urge to fly and, after studying medicine in Kansas, applied to the Air Force. It would not let her take the test to become a pilot, but the US Navy did.
She was one of the first female F-18 pilots and became an instructor before she left the Navy in 1993 and joined Southwest, according to the blog.
A Christian, who is married to a fellow pilot and has two children, Ms Shults said sitting in the captain's chair gave her, "the opportunity to witness for Christ on almost every flight".
When Southwest Airlines flight 1380 encountered trouble, Ms Shults calmly told air traffic control part of her plane was missing and she would need ambulances on the runway.
"So we have a part of the aircraft missing so we're going to need to slow down a bit," Ms Shults told a controller.
Many of the 144 passengers sang her praise on social media after Ms Shults thanked them for their bravery as they left the plane.
"The pilot Tammy [sic] Jo was so amazing! She landed us safely in Philly," Amanda Bourman posted on Instagram.
Ms Bourman was among passengers who said they had been saved by divine intervention.
"God sent his angels to watch over us," she said.
Passengers commended Ms Shults for her cool-headed handling of the emergency.
She walked through the aisle and talked with passengers to make sure they were OK after the plane touched down.
"She has nerves of steel. That lady, I applaud her," passenger Alfred Tumlinson said.
"I'm going to send her a Christmas card — I'm going to tell you that — with a gift certificate for getting me on the ground. She was awesome."
Passengers identified Ms Shults as the pilot. Southwest Airlines declined to name the crew of flight 1380 and Ms Shults was not immediately available for comment.
Authorities said the crew did what they were trained to do.
"They're in the simulator and practice emergency descents … and losing an engine … They did the job that professional airline pilots are trained to do," National Transportation Safety Board chairman Robert Sumwalt told reporters.
Reuters/ABC
Topics: accidents, air-force, air-transport, united-states
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