NERVES OF STEEL
faced my greatest challenge.
Tammie Jo’s Journey / Book Trailer
Adult Readers
B&N Exclusive Edition
An exclusive edition of Nerves of Steel is available for a limited time only at Barnes & Noble.
This special edition includes: custom photographic endsheets, a bonus letter for readers from Captain Dean Shults, Tammie Jo Shults’ husband, as well as a custom printed case from her time in The Navy.
Young Readers
About The Books
Nerves of Steel is the captivating true story of Tammie Jo Shults’s remarkable life—from growing up the daughter of a humble rancher, to breaking through gender barriers as one of the Navy’s first female F/A-18 Hornet pilots, to safely landing the severely crippled Southwest Airlines Flight 1380 and helping save the lives of 148 people.
Tammie Jo Shults has spent her entire life loving the skies. Though the odds were against her, she became one of the few female fighter pilots in the Navy. In 1994, after serving her country honorably for eight years, Tammie Jo left the Navy and joined Southwest Airlines in the early 1990’s.
On April 17, 2018, Tammie Jo was called to service once again. Twenty minutes into a routine domestic flight, Captain Shults was faced with the unthinkable—a catastrophic engine failure in the Boeing 737 caused an explosion that punctured hydraulic lines and severed fuel lines, tearing away sections of the plane, puncturing a window, and taking a woman’s life. Captain Shults and her first officer, Darren Ellisor, struggled to stabilize the aircraft.
Drawing deeply from her well of experience, Tammie Jo was able to wrestle the severely damaged 737 safely to the ground. Not originally scheduled for that flight, there is no doubt God had prepared her and placed her right where she needed to be that day.
Sample Audiobook Chapters
The amazing story of pilot Tammie Jo Shults, adapted for young readers! Tammie Jo worked hard, had faith, stayed true to herself, and overcame every obstacle on her journey to becoming a Navy pilot. Years later, those lessons served her well as she was put in the right place at the right time to safely land a crippled plane and save 148 lives.
Tammie Jo Shults grew up wanting to be a pilot. She worked hard but faced many obstacles and challenges along the way that threatened to derail her dreams. Doing the next right thing kept her spirit alive as she persevered to find her special calling—to serve God and the world around her.
Tammie Jo’s path eventually led her to join the navy, where she became one of the first women to fly the F/A-18 Hornet. Her specialized flight training in fighter aircraft honed her skills to a razor’s edge. After eight years, she left the military, flew for the forest service in California fighting forest fires for a season, and then went to work for Southwest Airlines flying Boeing 737s.
Tammie Jo wasn’t scheduled for flight 1380 on the morning of April 17, 2018. In fact, she and her husband, Dean, also a Southwest pilot, had traded trips so she could attend their son’s track meet. Then the unthinkable happened. A catastrophic engine failure in her Boeing 737 caused an explosion that severed hydraulic and fuel lines, tore away sections of the plane, punctured a window, and took a woman’s life. In the midst of the emergency, Tammie Jo stayed calm. She wrestled the crippled plane safely to the ground, and in doing so, saved many lives. No doubt God had prepared her and placed her right where she needed to be that day.
Nerves of Steel (Young Readers Edition) is for all young readers who work hard to chase their dreams and are excited for the adventure ahead.
Free Chapters
Captain Tammie Jo Shults joins Angel Flight West’s Executive Director, Josh Olson, in the Virtual Pilot Lounge to discuss issues of fear, adventure and managing through a crisis.
About The Author
Captain Tammie Jo Shults is a Southwest Airlines captain and former naval aviator who received wide acclaim when, on April 17, 2018, she and her crew successfully landed a Boeing 737 after catastrophic engine failure and rapid decompression, saving the lives of 148 people. Shults’ early interest in flying led her to become one of the first female F/A-18 Hornet pilots in the United States Navy after overcoming several obstacles due to her gender. At the conclusion of her Navy career, Shults became a pilot for Southwest Airlines. Her incredible talent and notable history have made her an inspiration to many.