Faithwire
  • Watch
  • Go!
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Contact Us
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • SCOTUS
  • Life
  • Religious Liberty
  • News
  • Politics
  • Faith
  • Opinion

‘God Is Good’: Southwest Pilot Reveals the First Text She Sent After Landing

Photo credit: Thomas P. Milne/U.S. Navy via AP
Photo credit: Thomas P. Milne/U.S. Navy via AP
Share Tweet
By Lindsay Elizabeth
Author

April 20, 2018

This week, after a Southwest Airlines plane’s engine blew out, Captain Tammie Jo Shults was forced to make an emergency landing.

‘We Asked God to Be With the Pilot’: Christian Passenger Describes Terrifying Ordeal Aboard Southwest Flight After Engine Exploded

Just a few hours after landing the plane safely in Philly with a single engine, a shattered window and a cabin filled with traumatized passengers, Shults sent out her first text: “God is good,” she messaged her friend and fellow veteran Navy combat aviator, Linda Maloney, according to Fox News.

When Maloney heard that it was her friend who landed Southwest flight 1380, she quickly shot her a text that said, “News travels fast. Praying for you.”

Shults replied: “Thanks. God is good.”

Southwest Airlines Boots Father and 2-Year-Old Off Flight Because Child was ‘Fussing’

 Maloney and Shults first met at a Navy training event, but unfortunately, the two friend were based across the country, with Shults in California and Maloney in Florida.

Both women have had long careers with the Navy. In 1985, Shults was commissioned into the Navy and successfully reached the rank of lieutenant commander, according to Commander Ron Flanders, the spokesman for the Naval Air Force in San Diego.

“We became fast friends,” Maloney said of her friendship with Shults. “We had a small group of girlfriends who were all aviators. When there are very few women, you tend to form strong relationships.”

Their friendship spans decades, and Shults is even featured in Maloney’s book, “Military Fly Moms.” The book includes stories and photos that detail the lives of 69 women that are U.S. military veterans.

Maloney hopes that more people, especially women, will be inspired to pursue aviation careers after hearing her friend’s heroic story.

Shults and her co-pilot, First Officer Darren Ellisor, have insisted that their actions were not heroic, and that they were simply doing their jobs when disaster struck earlier this week.

“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,” the two pilots said in the statement, referring to passenger Jennifer Riordan, who became the sole fatality in Tuesday’s crash. The pilots added that their “hearts are heavy” for Riordan’s family .

Shults and Ellisor have decided not to take any public interviews, and “ask that the public and the media respect our focus.”

Passengers that have been interviewed commended both Shults’ precision with landing, as well as her calm kindness amid the chaos. Several recalled how Shults walked down the aisle of the plane to make sure each passenger was okay after the plane landed.

One passenger recalled receiving a hug from the pilot.

“I specifically said to her, ‘Do I get a hug too?’” Benjamin Goldstein said, according to Fox. “She said, ‘Of course. I wouldn’t let you by without a hug.’”

During a news conference Wednesday, Robert Sumwalt, Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, also commended the Shults’ efforts.

He said the pilots “seemed very calm and assured of what they were doing,” adding that they “behaved in a manner that their training would prepare them for.”

“My hat is off to them,” Sumwalt said.

(H/T: Fox News)

Latest

  • culture

    ‘I…Won’t Be Competing’: ‘Soul Surfer’ Legend Bethany Hamilton Speaks Out Against League’s New Trans Policy

  • News

    The Chosen’s Season Three Finale Lands in Top 10 in Weekend Box Office

  • Entertainment

    ‘Full-On, Openly Satanic’: Sam Smith ‘Unholy’ Grammy Performance With Devils, Horns Called ‘Diabolical’

  • News

    ‘It Blows My Mind’: Complete Strangers Miraculously Save Hockey Player During Pick-Up Game

  • Faith

    Mom Turns Teen Over to Cops After He Allegedly Carjacks Pastor: ‘The Hardest Thing But the Best Thing’


Sponsored
Sponsored

Newsletter
Signup

Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • ‘I…Won’t Be Competing’: ‘Soul Surfer’ Legend Bethany Hamilton Speaks Out Against League’s New Trans Policy
  • The Chosen’s Season Three Finale Lands in Top 10 in Weekend Box Office
  • ‘Full-On, Openly Satanic’: Sam Smith ‘Unholy’ Grammy Performance With Devils, Horns Called ‘Diabolical’
  • ‘It Blows My Mind’: Complete Strangers Miraculously Save Hockey Player During Pick-Up Game
  • Mom Turns Teen Over to Cops After He Allegedly Carjacks Pastor: ‘The Hardest Thing But the Best Thing’

Archives

  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016

Categories

  • Christian Persecution
  • Coronavirus
  • culture
  • Culture
  • Entertainment
  • Faith
  • Faith
  • Family
  • George Floyd
  • Go!
  • Israel
  • Life
  • Life
  • Lifestyle
  • Media
  • Men
  • Mission Haiti
  • News
  • News
  • Opinion
  • P.O.V
  • Politics
  • Politics
  • Sponsored
  • Sports
  • Virtue
  • Women

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Navigation

  • Watch
  • Go!
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Contact Us
  • Staff
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram

Subscribe to the Newsletter

Sign up to get our newsletter your inbox every day.

Newsletter Signup

Do you want to read
more articles like this?