The pilot who landed a plane on one engine

Tammie Jo Shults is a pilot, and a woman.

However, whilst she was still in high school, Shults was told she couldn’t go to an aviation career day at school because they didn’t accept girls.

And last week, she calmly landed a Boeing 737-700 after one of the engines exploded mid-air, saving the lives of almost 150 people.

According to the ABC, one of the two engines on the Southwest Airlines flight broke apart at 32,000 feet last Tuesday.

One woman was partially sucked out of one of the windows after it was broken by shrapnel from the blown engine, and a few other passengers suffered minor injuries on the flight bound for Dallas.

But Shults kept extremely calm and dispatched to air traffic control that she would need ambulances on the runway at Philadelphia airport, where the plane miraculously landed safely.

“So we have a part of the aircraft missing so we’re going to need to slow down a bit,” Captain Shults told a controller.

Passengers on-board have praised Shults for saving their lives and remaining so calm under extreme pressure.

“The pilot Tammie Jo was so amazing! She landed us safely in Philly,” one passenger posted on Instagram.

“She has nerves of steel. That lady, I applaud her. I’m going to send her a Christmas card — I’m going to tell you that — with a gift certificate for getting me on the ground. She was awesome,” another said.

But perhaps the most terrifying aspect of Captain Tammie Jo Shults landing a Boeing with one engine is the fact that she may have never been Captain Tammie Jo Shults at all – if not for her incredible persistence in becoming a pilot in an age where women were only flight stewardesses.

After being refused at the aviation career day, Shults went on to study medicine before applying to the Air Force.

Still, she was refused the right to take the pilot test.

Luckily, the US Navy let her, and Shults subsequently became one of the first female F-18 pilots – flying an F/A-18 Hornet – an aeroplane reserved for only the most elite of pilots.

As women were still excluded from combat missions back then, Shults flew training missions instead, before leaving for Southwest Airlines in 1993.

If that’s not something for young women to look up to, we don’t know what is.

Because in the US, women still only make up five per cent of airline pilots – and Shults worked extremely hard to be a part of that five per cent.

And an opinion piece by The Guardian has pointed to the fact that Shults’ gender has been continually brought up, despite it hardly mattering at all.

Reports describing her as a “female pilot” rather than just a pilot (which is what she is) are continual reminders than in 2018, gender equality is still not all there.

Which is why at Travel Weekly, along with our Women in Travel Awards, we’re also supporting events like Changing the Ratio to promote inclusion, diversity and the promotion of women in all industries.

It’s an inspiring extravaganza, packed with captivating speakers like Lisa Wilkinson (!!), refugee-turned-lawyer Deng Thiak Adut and George McEncroe, founder of women’s rideshare service Shebah.

Attendees of this event will walk away with game-changing ideas and a new mindset on equality to bring back to their organisation – as well as practical tools and case studies to drive diversity right now.

Because if Captain Tammie Jo Shults had never become a pilot because of her gender, the passengers of the Southwest Airlines flight might not be around today.

Grab early bird tickets to the 2018 Women in Travel Awards right here, and get your paws on some coveted Changing the Ratio tickets here.

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Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

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