Trump hails bravery of crew, passengers aboard Southwest jet

By Debra J. Saunders Review-Journal White House Correspondent

7 years ago

President Donald Trump shakes hands with pilot Tammie Jo Shults, as he meets with crew and passengers of Southwest Airlines Flight 1380 in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, May 1, 2018. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Flight 1380 pilot Tammie Jo Shults, right, interacting with passengers after emergency landing the plane, Tuesday, April 17, 2018. (Diana McBride Self via AP)

Tammie Jo Shults, one of the pilots of a Southwest Airlines twin-engine Boeing 737 bound from New York to Dallas on March 20, 2017 that made an emergency landing at the Philadelphia International Airport after the aircraft blew one of its engines Tuesday, April 17, 2018. (Kevin Garber/MidAmerica Nazarene University via AP)

In this Tuesday, April 17, 2018 frame from video, a National Transportation Safety Board investigator examines damage to the engine of the Southwest Airlines plane that made an emergency landing at Philadelphia International Airport in Philadelphia. A preliminary examination of the blown jet engine of the Southwest Airlines plane that set off a terrifying chain of events and left a businesswoman hanging half outside a shattered window showed evidence of "metal fatigue," according to the National Transportation Safety Board. (NTSB via AP)

A National Transportation Safety Board investigator examines damage to the engine of the Southwest Airlines plane that made an emergency landing at Philadelphia International Airport in Philadelphia on Tuesday, April 17, 2018. (NTSB via AP)

Los investigadores de la Junta Nacional de Seguridad del Transporte examinan el daño al motor del avión de Southwest Airlines que realizó un aterrizaje de emergencia en el Aeropuerto Internacional de Filadelfia en Filadelfia el martes 17 de abril de 2018. (NTSB vía AP)

The engine on a Southwest Airlines plane is inspected as it sits on the runway at the Philadelphia International Airport after it made an emergency landing in Philadelphia, Tuesday, April 17, 2018. (Amanda Bourman via AP)

President Donald Trump shakes hands with pilot Tammie Jo Shults as he meets with crew and passengers of Southwest Airlines Flight 1380 in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, May 1, 2018. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Donald Trump pauses as he meets with crew and passengers of Southwest Airlines Flight 1380, including pilot Tammie Jo Shults, third from left, and Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, right, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, May 1, 2018. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday praised the crew and passengers of the Southwest Airlines flight forced into an emergency landing after an engine exploded, damaging the fuselage and fatally injuring a 43-year-old woman.

“The actions of the crew and passengers of Southwest Flight 1380 show the great character of our nation,” Trump said.

It was the sort of ceremony Trump enjoys — with heroes in uniform, heroes in plainclothes and a story of Americans braving tough odds.

As Trump sat at his desk in the Oval Office, Capt. Tammie Jo Shults, the pilot, stood on his right, while on his left stood passengers who tried to save Jennifer Riordan after she was partially sucked out of a window that had been broken by shrapnel.

Included in the group were Texas firefighter Andrew Needum, who pulled Riordan, a mother of two from Albuquerque, from the window. But despite passengers’ best efforts, Riordan did not survive.

Trump praised Shults for exhibiting grace under pressure in landing the plane. “They said you were calm and strong and cool,” he said.

“Everybody’s talking about it. They’re still talking about it. They’ll be talking about it for a long time,” he told Shults.

Flight 1380 was headed from New York to Dallas with 149 people on board in April when it was forced to land in Philadelphia after an engine exploded at 30,000 feet.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.

Contact Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal.com or at 202-662-7391. Follow @DebraJSaunders on Twitter. The Associated Press contributed to this report.