America honors female pilot who saved 148 people on plane with exploding engine

Investigators from the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) examine the plane's exploding engine - Photo: REUTERS

Southwest Airlines Flight 1380 (USA) landed at Philadelphia International Airport (USA) at noon on April 17 in a state as if it had been attacked by a missile.

An engine exploded while the plane was at an altitude of nearly 10,000m, debris flew into the plane's window, causing one passenger to be sucked out and killed. At least 4 or 5 others were injured by other debris.

But the lives of nearly 140 people on the Boeing 737-700 were saved by a 56-year-old female pilot: Tammie Jo Shults.

Fly civil aircraft like military

"People started going crazy, screaming and yelling on the plane," Marty Martinez, a passenger on the flight, told CNN.

Oxygen masks came down from the ceiling, and there was chaos. Someone shouted that a passenger was having a heart attack.

All of that is enough to make a young pilot mentally confused and unable to come up with a solution. For mother of two Shults, that is... normal.

Audio recordings show that the female pilot calmly communicated with ground traffic and handled the situation professionally.

The identity of the brave pilot was not revealed at first, but when people learned it was Tammie Jo Shults, some were not surprised. To them, it was normal because they knew who Tammie Jo Shults was.

"The military prepared her for this situation," Kim Young, a friend of Ms. Shults, told the Kansas City Star.

A 2006 article (no longer online but shared in a pilot forum) revealed the strong dream of female pilot Shults to fly in the sky.

The high school pilot fair was Shults' first failure. She was rejected for one simple reason: she was a woman.

So Shults decided to apply to MidAmerica Nazarene because she was also passionate about veterinary medicine, but all of that came second to her dream of becoming a pilot.

Graduating in 1983, Shults applied again to become an air force pilot and was again rejected.

But the US Navy welcomed Shults. Shults' name later went down in US Navy history as one of the force's first female F-18 fighter pilots.

US Navy pilot Tammie Jo Shults in 1993 - Photo: F-16.net

According to a US Navy magazine, Shults was assigned to the 34th Electronic Warfare Unit, where she flew both A-7s and F-18s before moving to the role of instructor pilot.

Shults retired from the military in 1993 and moved to Southwest Airlines, but her spirit and perseverance inspired many other women to continue their dreams of reaching the sky in the military.

"Shults knew she had to work harder than everyone else when she joined the Navy," said Cindy Foster, a classmate of Shults'.

"She did it for herself, for other women who are fighting for opportunities. I know there are many other women fighting, but today I am so proud because she saved the lives of many others."

"God sent his angel to guard us"

For many passengers on flight 1380, when the plane landed safely at the airport, it felt like "dying and coming back to life".

"The captain came out and asked about each of us. She is a true American hero. Thank you so much for her wisdom, courage and calmness in rescuing us from such a dangerous situation," passenger Diana McBride Self wrote on Twitter.

Captain Tammie Jo Shults saved hundreds of lives on the flights she piloted - Screenshot

Amanda Bourman, a lucky survivor, believes that Captain Shults was "a guardian angel sent by God".

The investigation will take at least 12 to 15 months. The death of a passenger, the first fatal air crash in the United States since 2009, is putting pressure on authorities to clarify the incident.

But before the final verdict, Captain Shults had become a hero in the minds of many. Someone joked that maybe this incident would be made into a movie, the way people honored Captain Chesley B. Sullenberger III of US Airways Flight 1549.

In 2009, an incident shocked the US aviation industry but made many people breathe a sigh of relief. Captain Sullenberger decided to land in a river, saving hundreds of lives after the plane's engine caught fire after hitting a bird just minutes after takeoff.

In 2016, seven years after the accident, the film Sully detailed the moments before and after the rare incident.