Pilot Of Yesterday’s Deadly Flight Was A Navy Aviator-Here Are Her Unbelievably Calm COMs

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This Is How Military Training Resonates With You.

Yesterday, April 17th, 2018, we covered the story of the first deadly airline accident in the United States in a decade. A fan blade of the port side engine of a South West flight broke off destroying the cowling. Some of the debris flew through the air and broke a window while the aircraft was at 30,000 ft.

This caused the cabin to depressurize and sucked out one of the passengers. Jennifer Riordan, a mother of two, was pronounced DOA when the paramedics go on board. 

As for the crippled aircraft, it limped to a nearby airport with the expert piloting of former naval aviator Tammie Jo Shults. With only one engine and the then unknown damage to the wing and fuselage, she set the aircraft down while instructing the crew and ATC. 

Do you need some inspiration today? Just read this. Thank you Tammy Jo Schultz! https://t.co/URSqvIX1eC https://t.co/qlytgQJjPL

— Palm Grips® (@PalmGrips) April 18, 2018

How she did it, however, is something else. 

It’s easy to say that pilot train for these sorts of situations, but flying for the U.S. Navy and landing on rocking carriers definitely made a difference. Shults, one of the first women to become a pilot for the Navy, knew how to handle herself in tough situations and this one was it. 

Listen to the COMs below get the gist of how calm and collected she was during the entire ordeal.