Southwest Pilot Once Flew Navy Fighters
When chaos struck on Southwest Flight 1380 as an engine exploding, killing one passenger and injuring others, the pilot at the helm was reportedly Tammie Jo Shults. It should come as no surprise she was cool and composed in her contact with air traffic control given her history as one of the first women to fly the F-18 for the U.S. Navy.
Shults' name has not been officially released by Southwest, but she has been identified as the pilot of the flight by social media postings by passengers, as reported by Heavy.com. Her background in the Navy is outlined by her alma mater as well as a 1993 issue of the Navy's All Hands magazine, which states she joined the Navy in 1985 and rose to be a pilot who flew the F/A-18 in the Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron (VAQ) 34. "In AOCS [Aviation Officer Candidate School], if you’re a woman [or different in any way], you’re a high profile; you’re under more scrutiny," she told the magazine at the time.
Cindy Foster, a classmate of Shults' at MidAmerica Nazarene University, tells the Kansas City Star that Shults was in fact the very first woman to fly an F/A-18 for the Navy, saying "[She] knew she had to work harder than everyone else... She did it for herself and all women fighting for a chance. ... I'm extremely proud of her. She saved a lot of lives today."
"She has nerves of steel. That lady, I applaud her. 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," passenger Alfred Tumlinson told the Associated Press. "The lady, the crew, everything, everybody was immaculate. They were so professional in what they did to get us on the ground."
"I commend the pilots who safely landed the aircraft, and the crew and fellow passengers who provided support and care for the injured, preventing what could have been far worse," said U.S. transportation Secretary Elaine Chao in a statement extending condolences to the family of Jennifer Riordan, the passenger who died in the incident after fellow passengers pulled her back through the window that was smashed in the engine explosion.
Without a composed and competent pilot at the helm, things surely could have been much worse.
Sources: Heavy, The Washington Post, Foxtrot Alpha, Associated Press, Kansas City Star
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