Photo: Tammie Jo Shults during her time with the Navy in 1993. (Supplied: Military Fly Moms)
ABC News Online: Southwest Airlines: Meet Tammie Jo Shults, the heroic ex-fighter pilot who safely landed stricken plane
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.
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Update #1: Southwest emergency landing pilot Tammie Jo Shults is a pioneer with 'nerves of steel' (USA Today)
Update #2: Who is pilot Tammie Jo Shults, who landed the crippled Southwest plane in Philly? (The Herald)
WNU Editor: Her training kicked in. The passengers and crew were/are lucky to have someone like her behind the controls.
