The fighter pilot who saved 148 lives

Tammie Jo Shults dreamed of flying fighter jets. But sexism meant she was rejected repeatedly by the military. She persisted and, eventually, a US Navy recruiter gave her the chance to become one of their first female fighter pilots. She spent 10 years flying fighter jets and training other pilots, honing the skills and composure that, one day, would allow her to land a beleaguered passenger plane on a wing and a prayer.

After leaving the US Navy Tammie Jo joined Southwest Airlines as a civilian pilot. On 17 April, 2018 she was the captain of a routine passenger flight when debris from a catastrophic engine failure smashed a hole in a passenger window at 30,000 feet. In cockpit recordings from the incident Tammie Jo sounds cool, calm and precise, just relaying the facts.

The plane was flying sideways on one engine. Harnessing all the skills she gained from training the Navy’s fighter pilots she managed to wrestle the aircraft safely onto the runway in Philadelphia. After the window broke, one passenger was serously injured and later died, but the other 148 passengers and crew all survived.

Presenter: Asya Fouks
Producer: Hetal Bapodra and Julian Siddle

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(Photo: Lieutenant Tammie Jo Shults, one of the first women to fly Navy tactical aircraft, posing in front of an F/A-18A with Tactical Electronics Warfare Squadron 34 in 1992. She is wearing a pilot's jumpsuit and holding her helmet in her right hand. Credit: US Navy/PH2 Thomas P. Milne/Getty Images)