The pilot who safely landed a stricken Southwest Airlines flight on Tuesday got her first flying experience in the US Navy, 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, forcing her to implement a rapid descent towards Philadelphia International Airport.
The explosion killed one passenger and nearly sucked another out of a shattered window.
"So we have a part of the aircraft missing so we're going to need to slow down a bit," Shults told a controller.
"The pilot Tammy Jo was so amazing! She landed us safely in Philly," said Amanda Bourman on Instagram.
Passengers identified Shults as the pilot. Southwest Airlines declined to name the crew of flight 1380 and Shults was not immediately available for comment.
"They're in the simulator and practice emergency descents..and losing an engine... They did the job that professional airline pilots are trained to do," National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Robert Sumwalt told reporters.
Shults might never have become a pilot if she had not been so determined to fly from a young age.
A native of New Mexico, she never lost the urge to fly and, after studying medicine in Kansas, applied to the Air Force. It would not let her take the test to become a pilot, but the US Navy did.
A Christian, who is married to a fellow pilot and has two children, Shults said that sitting in the captain's chair gave her "the opportunity to witness for Christ on almost every flight."
Bourman was among passengers who said they had been saved by divine intervention.
"God sent his angels to watch over us," she said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Part Of Aircraft Engine Found Outside Delhi Airport; Watchdog Orders Probe Plane Mechanic In Iran Dies After Getting Sucked Into Boeing Jet's Engine US Passenger Jet Flies 500 Feet Over Buildings, Sparks Low Altitude Alert "Biggest Breach": Thousands Of Pagers Explode In Lebanon, Target Hezbollah Video: Leopard Spotted Crossing Road In Bengaluru's Electronic City AAP Asks Its Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal To Quit Over Atishi Remarks IndiGo Flight Tailstrike Leaves Huge Dent During Take-Off From Delhi Airport 3 Children Crushed Under Tractor Carrying Ganesh Idol In Maharashtra: Cops "No U-Turns By Modi Government, Only Responsiveness": Piyush Goyal Exclusive Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.