By now you have heard the story of Southwest pilot Tammie Jo Shults. She is the pilot who had an engine fail twenty minutes into a flight from New York to Dallas. Ms. Shults is a retired U.S. Navy pilot who had to settle for a combat instructor gig during Operation Desert Storm because she was a woman. She was also the first female pilot fly the F/A-18 Hornet.
Anyway, I wanted to say something about Captain Shults because this is by no means a small feat and I don't feel as if she got enough attention for this (she probably won't get a major motion picture made about it). An engine failure! Are you f*cking kidding me?! Not only does she lay that plane down ever so gently but she just seems to nonchalant it when she lets the tower know what happened like it's no big deal.
Tragically, one passenger lost her life when she was partially sucked out of the plane. Passengers managed to pull her back in but she succumbed to her injuries. Oh by the way, nice work passengers! That's some very quick thinking and they deserve credit for their efforts to try to save a total stranger under circumstances a regular person isn't supposed to face. There's no course on how to save a person from being sucked out a plane. There was a lot of heroic acts on this flight. Nice.
Captain Shults, thank you for your service and for the ice water in your veins. You are a special person.
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