Twitter calls for a movie about hero Southwest pilot Tammie Jo Shults

On Tuesday, a Dallas-bound Boeing 737-700 was in dire straits after it departed from New York City’s LaGuardia Airport, blew an engine and lost a window — at approximately 32,500 feet. Tragically, one woman was partially sucked out of the window opening and later died from her injuries. But the rest of the people aboard made it safely to the ground thanks to the efforts of the aircraft’s pilot, who has been identified by multiple sources as Tammie Jo Shults. And given her heroism, as well as her groundbreaking career, the internet was quick to not only praise her but to also begin campaigning for a movie about her amazing story.

Shults saved 148 lives when she successfully guided Southwest Airlines Flight 1380 to the tarmac at Philadelphia International Airport. It was a task she was well prepared to handle because, according to family and friends, Shults was among the first female fighter pilots in Navy history — and one of the first women to fly an F/A-18 Hornet. Though Navy regulations prevented her from engaging in combat missions, Shults’s tenacity and skill nonetheless earned her a 10-year military stint in a male-dominated field. She attained the rank of Navy lieutenant commander before she retired from service in 1993.

It is, all told, a tale fit for the big screen, so it’s no surprise that people on Twitter were quick to call for a Sully-like biopic about Shults’s life and amazing deeds this week.