It is my nonexpert opinion that things could have ended much worse.
I can’t imagine being a passenger on that plane. I am shocked only 1 person had a heart attack, if I were on board, it would be 2. There goes my window seat, back to the aisle for me.
Yes, wow!!!
I will keep my window seat. This is what, the first time it’s happened in millions and millions of passenger miles? The drive to the airport is so much more dangerous, there’s not even a comparison.
I’m keeping my window seat too. Life is full of dangers, both common and “wow, how unfortunate!” I refuse to live in fear of the latter. Far more folks continue to text and drive (or similar) thinking they’re just fine. We opt to not use cell phones while driving…
I’m glad there are totally capable pilots out there - esp as I’m getting ready to make another reservation - likely on Southwest.
Did anyone hear the recording of the exchanges between Air Traffic Control and the pilot or co-pilot? (It was a woman speaking from the plane, by the way.) Amazing – completely level and professional on both ends, while communicating things like “we are missing parts of the aircraft.”
I did hear that, @JHS, and I agree with you.
The difference between a military trained fighter pilot (which she was) and the Colgan pilot…
I always chose an aisle seat. Hate having to wake anyone if I need to use the rest room.
Keep those seatbelts fastened tightly.
The pilot is a hero. She is amazing.
They were both so calm and cool. When the air traffic controller was talking to the other pilot who was ahead of them to land I’m thinking I’d be yelling - get the something out of the way!! move it buddy!! And then he was like wait, what? A piece is missing, and started talking about how that happened then said, but that’s not important right now.
I totally get all the dangers in the world, and I do fly at least once a month if not more. I’m also the one who has a boat and lives on the water and is convinced there are sharks lurking under the boat. I make hubby jump overboard first just in case.
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/southwest-philadelphia-pilot-air-traffic-control-transcript-20180418.html contains a partial transcript of the conversations between WN1380 and ATC.
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/southwest-airlines-passenger-fatal-tami-jo-shults-20180418.html has more information.
So, a competent (female!) pilot, competent air traffic controller, competent crew, and multiple passengers who risked their own safety to help someone. That’s the world I want to inhabit.
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/SWA1380/history/20180417/1430Z/KLGA/KPHL is the track of WN1380 of 4/17.
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/SWA1458/history/20180417/1340Z/KSTL/KPHL is the track of WN1458 of 4/17 that was mentioned in the transcript. Looks like it flew a few loops before landing at 11:30 after WN1380 landed at 11:25.
She was the pilot, Tammy Jo Shults. https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-veteran-fighter-pilot-tammy-jo-shults-saved-crippled-southwest-flight-1380?source=articles&via=rss
Sometimes I think how far it is that we’ve come. And sometimes I think we haven’t come very far at all.
My initial reaction was that the crew had done an awesome job. Basically, dual emergencies. A rapid decompression for which they had to don oxygen masks and descend quickly, combined with a catastrophic engine failure, which was producing yaw and all sorts of bells and whistles. Combine that with suddenly diverting into an airfield they weren’t expecting to land at, screaming passengers and flight attendants trying to figure out what is going on. Very challenging.
My next reaction was my heart swelling with pride when I found out the captain was female.
But now after seeing so much press given to the fact that she was a woman, with no mention of the co-pilot (who also could be female, for as little information there is out there), like she was the only one in the cockpit, is starting to get old. There was a CREW onboard that airplane dealing with this emergency, not just one woman. The press spent the entire day making a big deal because she sounded calm, which is insulting. I guess they would have expected her to be screaming, “We’re gonna die, we’re gonna die!” And what if she had talked a little faster (most pilots do, male and female…I speak quickly on just a regular day), would that mean she hadn’t done a good job? The crew dealt with the emergency, got the airplane down quickly and landed safely. The emergency comes down to far more than just a few seconds making a radio transmission. Though all pilots know that even if you’re on fire and going to crash and burn, you gotta sound cool on the radios.
Yes, she did a phenomenal job. But she isn’t the only one. The other crewmembers, some of the passengers, anyone else who helped. It’s not a freak incident that a woman is calm, cool, and competent, it’s a daily occurrence. 8-|
I just read this online: “Although a fear of flying and concerns about airplane safety permeate popular culture, it’s many times safer to travel by airplane than in a car. In fact, SWA1380 is the first fatal US flight in over nine years. Almost 100 million US flights carrying billions of people flew during that time without a death, according to Bloomberg.”
The first fatality in over nine years!! How often do you think there’s an auto fatality in the US? I did the math - in 2017, EVERY 13 MINUTES on average. Hmm, 13 minutes vs. 9 years…
Now we know the co-pilot is a man …
Good evening. We wanted to share with you words from the Captain and First Officer of Flight 1380:
“As Captain and First Officer of the Crew of five who worked to serve our Customers aboard Flight 1380 yesterday, we all feel we were simply doing our jobs. Our hearts are heavy. 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. We joined our Company today in focused work and interviews with investigators. We are not conducting media interviews and we ask that the public and the media respect our focus.” – Southwest Captain Tammie Jo Shults and Southwest Airlines First Officer Darren Ellisor.
Sorry, I should have said kudos to the crew. Really! I know it took a great team to get this plane down safely. And some of the passengers were very courageous, too.
Thanks for that quote. And now for what happens next…
The crew will get drug and alcohol tested. Every bit of their life and everything they have done over the last several days will get picked apart, from what they have ate and drank, and when they have slept. Every word, every action will be scrutinized from whatever they can recover from the cockpit voice recorder, flight data recorder and ATC tapes. They will get criticized and Monday morning quarterbacked about every last thing. I hope their company stands beside them instead of trying to find a way to hang them for this. When in doubt, all problems stem from pilot error. Even catastrophic engine failure. 