This is pretty much my worst nightmare

A Southwest Airlines plane made a successful emergency landing yesterday after an engine blew, sending shrapnel into the plane, breaking a window, and depressurizing the cabin. One woman was partially sucked out of the plane, but was pulled back in by her fellow passengers. I'd need years of therapy after experiencing something like that. Initially she was thought to have survived, but turned out to be the lone casualty due to injuries sustained. But she was the only casualty, thanks largely to a badass pilot.

According to news reports the plane was at 32,500 feet when the incident occurred and it fell at a rate of 3,000 feet per minute before the pilots leveled it out at 10,000 feet. That's always been the part that scares me most when I think about meeting my maker in a plane crash - taking that ride down. The feeling of free-fall is terrifying to me. Heck, perfectly normal descents freak me out. I can't imagine what those passengers went through, nor do I want to.

And then there was this guy, who had the presence of mind bust out his camera and start filming. I don't know how those people stayed so calm. I'd be petrified.

Mind-boggling pictures taken by passengers of the damage quickly popped up on social media:

Yup, the stuff of nightmares. Jaysus.

Back to the pilot, the incredibly awesome Tammie Jo Shults, a former Navy fighter pilot who remained inhumanly calm and landed the plane with no further damage to either the aircraft or its passengers. She's being hailed as a hero and rightly so. She's kind of like a female Sully. I hope she gets a book deal, I'd love to read about her life and experiences, and what was going through her mind when this incident occurred. She sounds like an absolutely amazing person.

I feel awful for the passenger who died and her family, but it could have been a lot worse and I'm just glad it wasn't. And if I'd been on that plane, it would probably have been the last time I set foot on an aircraft. Just crazy terrifying.