May all insulting references to “women drivers” now finally be put to rest. Tammie Jo Shults, flying a Boeing 737 above 30,000 feet when the left engine exploded, calmly guided her aircraft safely for an emergency landing with a 144 passengers and five crew members freaked out of their minds. When oxygen masks descend, (I never pay attention to the preflight instructions), that in itself would have sent me into orbit. When a passenger is sucked halfway out the plane, my screams would have been heard on the moon. Sadly the woman who experienced the impromptu exposure to life outside the plane with 400mph winds in her face, died from too many nightmarish complications. The rest of the people on board touched ground safely with a whole new perspective on life.

There are many ways for us to come to understand this extraordinary event. For some it was a women’s issue. Ms. Shults, a veteran pilot during the Iraqi war, was denied admission into The Air Force Academy on the grounds of being a woman. The Navy apparently had fewer misogynist rules, so she went that route. Ms.Shults was so convincing in her command of the plane, many feminists would like to boast she could have flown it backwards wearing heels. And as a woman, where relationships are more meaningful than conquests, Ms. Shults talked to everyone of the passengers when on the ground. Can you imagine a male pilot exhibiting such nurturing? In this instance, he would in all likelihood have found a seat at the bar while talking with lawyers for the rights to the film.

Another perspective on the flight is a religious one. There were more prayers delivered during the twenty-minute descent from above the clouds than one would find in every house of worship throughout the world on any given Holy Day combined. The circuits to God’s line were overloaded; nobody probably got through. And yet all who fervently prayed, as though He might grant a miracle to the righteous, sang His praises. But no one asks why He allowed the engine to fail in the first place. Was it a religious test? Regardless, may the world assume that in that interfaith community assembled on board flight #1380, God played no favorites.

Another perspective from which to examine the Southwest flight is economics. This was an accident that need not have happened. The explosion in mid-air occurred because the bottom line of the airline superseded the need to protect human life. Forgoing recommended inspections on an aging aircraft, we witness once again how safety is expendable…if it costs too much. Too many of our nation’s industries have forsaken human decency for increasing profits. Captain Shults, along with more than 100 people, would have been sacrificed that day for the capitalist dollar. And what is frightening, nothing would change; business as usual, as we experience with alarming regularity. 

Captain Shults brought another day for lots of people. They were either lucky or blessed. We’ll never know for sure. But what is certain is that profit motives have supplanted the preservation of life as a priority. That’s the real horror we face everyday in our lives. TRG