The pilots of Southwest Flight 1380 – which suffered catastrophic engine failure Tuesday, resulting in the death of a passenger – released a joint statement Wednesday night.
Capt. Tammie Jo Shults, of San Antonio, and First Officer Darren Ellisor, of League City, who have been praised for safely landing the Dallas-bound plane in Philadelphia, said "we all feel we were simply doing our jobs."
"Our hearts are heavy," said the statement, which was posted on the Southwest Airlines Twitter account. "On behalf of the entire Crew, we appreciate the outpouring of support from the public and our coworkers as we all reflect on one family's profound loss. We joined our Company today in focused work and interviews with investigators."
Shults and Ellisor will not be giving interviews to the media at this time, the statement said.
Robert Sumwalt, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said there appeared to be evidence of "metal fatigue" in a fan blade of the engine that blew apart from the plane Tuesday.
Jennifer Riordan, a passenger from Albuquerque, N.M, was killed in the incident. She died of blunt force trauma to her head, neck and torso, according to the Philadelphia medical examiner.
Earlier Wednesday evening, the Federal Aviation Administration announced that it will be requiring inspections of certain CFM56-7B engines, the type involved in the deadly incident Tuesday.