The Southwest pilot who made the incredible emergency landing on Tuesday has ties to the Coastal Bend. An engine exploded on Flight 1380 – from New York to Dallas – just 30 minutes after takeoff.
Captain Tammi Jo Shults has received lots of praise for her calm demeanor during her call to air traffic contol. Shults has had a long history of flying experience with the military and as an airline pilot. She was trained as a naval aviator in the Coastal Bend in the eighties.
She was assigned to Naval Air Station Chase Field in Beeville, Texas in April 1987. She completed her strike training there and was one of the navy’s first female fighter pilots.
Southwest is still investigating the incident that killed one person and injured several others. Shults and her copilot released a statement through Southwest’s social media yesterday.
As Captain and First Officer of the Crew of five who worked to serve our Customers aboard Flight 1380 yesterday, we all feel we were simply doing our jobs. Our hearts are heavy. On behalf of the entire Crew, we appreciate the outpouring of support from the public and our coworkers as we all reflect on one family’s profound loss. We joined our Company today in focused work and interviews with investigators. We are not conducting media interviews and we ask that the public and the media respect our focus.
Several passengers aboard Flight 1380 were from the Corpus Christi area. They joined all of the survivors in lauding the entire flight crew for their quick action and calm natures through social media comments and posts.
