Captain Tammie Jo Shults Honored with Texas Aviation Hall of Fame Induction

Captain Tammie Jo Shults, the retired Southwest Airlines pilot who heroically saved 148 lives during a catastrophic mid-flight emergency in 2018, was inducted into the Texas Aviation Hall of Fame on April 11, 2025. The honor recognizes not only her legendary emergency landing but also her pioneering career as one of the first female F/A-18 Hornet pilots in United States Navy history.

"It feels surreal," Shults told MidAmerica Nazarene University, her alma mater, after the induction. "I feel like I don't even qualify to preflight half of those people's planes. I'm humbled." The sentiment reflects the characteristic modesty that has defined her career, even as she joins an elite group of aviation legends in the Texas hall.

Since retiring from commercial aviation in 2020, Shults has dedicated herself to volunteer work and community service in her home state of Texas. She serves as a volunteer pilot for Angel Flight South Central, a nonprofit organization that provides free air transportation for people with serious medical conditions. The former naval aviator and her husband Dean, also a retired Southwest pilot, sit on the organization's board of directors, helping coordinate flights that make critical medical care accessible to families in need.

Every Tuesday, the 63-year-old grandmother volunteers at Oaks Academy, a Texas charter school serving orphans who struggled in foster care, where she teaches Bible stories woven with aviation lessons. She also teaches Sunday school at her church and recently completed writing a Bible study on the book of Esther for her congregation's women's retreat.

Shults' 2025 hall of fame induction adds to an impressive collection of honors, including her 2020 induction into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame and the Wings Club of New York's 2022 Outstanding Aviator Award. Her bestselling memoir "Nerves of Steel" chronicles her journey from a New Mexico ranch girl watching jets overhead to becoming a trailblazing pilot who, when faced with an exploding engine at 32,000 feet, calmly radioed air traffic control and executed a textbook emergency landing in Philadelphia.

Seven years after that fateful flight, Captain Shults continues demonstrating that true heroism extends beyond moments of crisis—it's found in everyday acts of service, mentorship, and giving back to the community that celebrates her extraordinary legacy.