Hero pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger praised Southwest Airlines pilot Tammie Jo Schults for keeping calm and steering Flight 1380 to safety after its engine blew out.
Shults was at the controls of the Dallas-bound flight when it made an emergency landing in Philadelphia on Tuesday but, despite the chaos, she remained level-headed as she took the plane into a rapid descent.
The scenario is similar to the one that played out in 2009 at the hands of Sullenberger, who was the captain of U.S. Airways Flight 1549, which suffered engine failure after hitting a flock of geese and was forced to make an emergency landing onto the Hudson River in Manhattan, Newsweek noted.
Sullenberger said there were similarities between the two incidents.
"In those first seconds, I knew it was going to change our lives forever," he told Newsweek. "I knew that every thought I had, every choice I made, everything I said, everything I did or did not do would be scrutinized not only by investigators, but by aviation professionals for years."
Sullenberger praised Schults for how she handled the emergency.
Audio of the incident shows how the Southwest Airlines pilot kept her cool despite an engine exploding and a passenger almost being sucked from the plane.
"We have part of the aircraft missing … There is a hole and, um, someone went out," she calmly told air traffic control, The Independent reported.
As she prepared to take the flight down in the emergency landing, Schults continued to communicate with air control.
"Can you have the medical meet us there on the runway as well. We have got … err injured passengers," she said.
Schults was one of the first female fighter pilots in the U.S. Navy and flew training missions as an enemy pilot during Operation Desert Storm, Time noted.
She and Sullenberger are among a handful of people who have safely landed a plane after encountering major failure.
"It is a great responsibility to have that much authority," Sullenberger told Newsweek. "I'm sure that's one that this captain feels deeply. The outcome indicates that they worked together as a team...to rise to the occasion and achieve the best possible outcome under those circumstance."
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