Retired nurse gave Jennifer Riordan CPR after she was partially sucked out of a window, while captain discussed landing with officials

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Terrified passengers struggled in vain to save the life of the woman who was partially sucked head-first out of the window of a Southwest Airlines flight, it emerged on Wednesday.

A retired nurse who gave the woman CPR for 20 minutes as the jet descended rapidly, with passengers screaming behind emergency oxygen masks, said afterwards: “There were a lot of really heroic and thoughtful things that went on during the flight. I was very proud of everyone involved.”

The pilot, Tammie Jo Shults, a former fighter jet pilot in the US navy, was described as displaying “nerves of steel” as she brought the aircraft in to land in Philadelphia.

A preliminary examination of the jet engine that broke up and threw debris into the fuselage, breaking a window, showed evidence of “metal fatigue”, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

Play Video 1:25 Plane makes emergency landing after woman nearly gets sucked out of window - video report

On Tuesday afternoon, a huge bang rocked the flight en route from New York to Dallas. Moments later, as the aircraft dived and shook vigorously, metal that had sheared off was flung clear of the engine casing, which is supposed to contain debris in such a situation, and broke the window.

Jennifer Riordan, a New Mexico bank executive and mother of two, was sucked out as far as the waist as the cabin rapidly depressurised, passengers later reported. Several men grabbed hold of Riordan and managed to bring her back into the plane, but she was gravely injured and witnesses recalled the men’s hands being covered in her blood.

Peggy Phillips, a retired registered nurse, told a local ABC news station she heard “a big whoosh of air”. Then she responded to a call for someone who could perform resuscitation.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Jennifer Riordan. Photograph: United Way of Central New Mexico

“If you can possibly imagine going through the window of an airplane at about 600mph and hitting either the fuselage or the wing with your body, with your face, then I think I can probably tell you there was significant trauma,” Phillips said of Riordan.

Passengers laid Riordan in the aisle and Phillips continued to perform CPR even as the plane descended fast and came in for a hard landing. Some passengers reported thinking they were going to die and many texted goodbyes to relatives and friends.

“I thought, OK, this might be it,” said Phillips.

After landing, Shults, the captain, walked through the cabin and thanked all the passengers, asking them if they were all right.

“She has nerves of steel. That lady, I applaud her,” said Alfred Tumlinson, a passenger from Corpus Christi, Texas. “I’m going to send her a Christmas card … she was awesome.

Unknown to the passengers at the time, Shults had remained absolutely calm as she attempted to save the jet, as revealed by her communications with air traffic control (ATC), captured in a recording.

“Southwest 1380 has an engine fire. Descending,” she tells ATC in a monotone.

“You are descending right now?” an incredulous voice on the other end says.

“Yes, sir. We are single engine. Descending,” Shults replies.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Tammie Jo Shults. Photograph: Kevin Garber/AP

A voice asks her where she would like to land. With just the faintest hint of exasperation, Shults replies: “Give us the closest … we are looking at Philly.”

Southwest explosion: aviation authority orders mass engine inspections Read more

The communications continue calmly, as the captain tells ATC she has injured passengers and relays from her cabin crew: “They said there is a hole and someone went out.”

After landing, Shults tells the ATC personnel: “Thanks, guys, for the help.”

Diana McBride Self, a passenger, thanked Shults on Facebook for her “guidance and bravery in a traumatic situation”.

“This is a true American Hero,” McBride wrote. Others on social media agreed and compared Shults with Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, who guided his US Airways plane to safety in New York’s Hudson river in 2009 after birds flew into the engines after take off.

When contacted by the Washington Post, Shults declined to be interviewed.

But family told how she had battled from the late 70s onward, against almost blanket refusal from the military, to become a fighter pilot, eventually succeeding.

Play Video 0:35 Southwest Airlines jet to air traffic control: 'There's a hole and someone went out' – audio

She was among the first female fighter pilots for the US navy, according to her alma mater, MidAmerica Nazarene University, from which she graduated in 1983, and among the first women to fly an F/A-18 Hornet for the navy.

Her mother-in-law, Virginia Shults, said that as soon as she heard the pilot’s voice on the radio transmission online, she said, “That is Tammie Jo.”

“It was just as if she and I were sitting here talking,” Virginia Shults told the Washington Post. “She’s a very calming person.”