It’s an emergency all commercial airline pilots train for, but thankfully, rarely get to put into practice. But when a Southwest Airlines plane’s engine blew up in mid-air killing a passenger on April 17, 2018, pilot Tammie Jo Shults was suddenly forced to put her skills to the test.
The 56-year-old former U.S. Navy pilot is being praised as a hero after safely landing the plane, and an audio recording between her and air traffic control shows just how amazing she was during the crisis.
Shults, a former fighter pilot with the U.S. Navy, immediately radioed air traffic control as her plane descended with 149 passengers on board the Boeing 737-700.
That audio recording has now been released and it reveals just how calm, cool and collected she is. When the air traffic controller ask for clarification as to what happens Shults relates: “Yes sir, we’re single engine, descending, have a fire, number one.”
