Trump honors crew of ill-fated Southwest Airlines Flight 1380
WASHINGTON (WPVI) -- The heroic crew on board the Southwest Airlines flight that had to make an emergency landing in Philadelphia last month was honored at the White House.
Captain Tammie Jo Shults and the rest of the five-person crew, along with some passengers, met with President Donald Trump.
"You were calm and cool. Thank you very much," Trump said.
Shults, a former fighter pilot with the Navy, was praised for how she handled the difficult situation April 17th, managing to safely land the plane.
"You knew how to land that plane. We salute you and every member of this crew," the president said.
Shults was at the controls when one of the engines on the Boeing 737 failed on a flight from New York to Dallas. A piece of metal shattered a window above Pennsylvania.
Jennifer Riordan a, 43-year-old wife and mother of two from New Mexico, was partially sucked out of the window of the plane at 30,000 feet. Tim McGinty and Andrew Needum, a firefighter, pulled her back into the plane, then retired school nurse Peggy Phillips did CPR. Riordan did not survive.
"We send our prayers to Jennifer's husband and their two beautiful young children. We ask God to hold this family close as they grieve the loss of a loving wife and mother," President Trump said.
The National Transportation Safety Board is still investigating what caused the engine to fail.
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The president noted she is one of the first women ever to fly tactical fighter aircraft in the US Navy.
Meantime, the plane that broke down midair has made its way back to a Seattle-area facility for repairs. That facility conducts major services on Boeing aircrafts.
(Sarah Standup- The Southwest Airlines plane has been released from the National Transportation Safety Board's investigation. It remains out of service while the left engine is getting replaced. I am Sarah Bloomquist. Channel 6 Action News.)
