Southwest pilots Tammie Jo Shults and Darren Ellisor have been praised for successfully landing their Boeing 737 after it blew an engine. Now, three weeks after the harrowing experience, Shults and Ellisor are detailing those moments in the cockpit together immediately after the explosion that led to the death of one passenger. 

"My first thoughts were actually, 'Oh, here we go,'" Shults said in an interview with ABC News' "20/20." "Just because it seems like a flashback to some of the Navy flying that we had done."

Captain Shults and co-pilot Ellisor, both former military pilots who had met only one day earlier, were forced to make an emergency landing of Southwest Flight 1380 at Philadelphia International Airport on April 17 after an engine broke apart and blew out a window. Passenger Jennifer Riordan, 43, died after being partially sucked out of the opening. 

"We heard a large bang and a rapid decompression," Ellisor told ABC. "The aircraft yawed and banked to the left a little over 40 degrees. We had a very severe vibration from the number one engine that was shaking everything. That all kind of happened all at once."

Shults explained that the plane was very loud after the explosion, forcing her and Ellisor to use hand signals to talk to each other. But it didn’t hinder their teamwork, she said, because "Darren was just very easy to communicate with." 

While descending, Shults said she and Ellisor were able to "split the cockpit." Shults did the flying and talking with air traffic control, and Ellisor “took care of everything else.”

President Donald Trump personally thanked Shults and Ellisor at the White House on May 1, saying they did an "incredible" job.

Shults' 18-year-old son, who has a private pilot license, didn't give her as gushing a reaction. 

After she told him she landed safely with a single engine, he texted back, "That's why Southwest gives you two." 

A recent report from the National Transportation Safety Board found that the pilots struggled to control the plane after the explosion. The report, released on April 17, also said investigators found that pieces of the engine’s fan blade may have triggered the accident when it broke off due to metal fatigue, or microscopic cracking. Those fan blades had been inspected by sight in November 2012 with fluorescent dye used to find surface defects. 

The Federal Aviation Administration has since ramped up its regulations since the fatal accident aboard the Southwest plane, requiring similar engines to the one that exploded to be inspected.

Shults and Ellisor's interview airs in full Friday at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.

A tractor-trailer hit wires in Southington and the area around Spring and Queen streets was closed for hours.

Police said the tractor-trailer hit wires at 10:35 a.m. on Spring Street, near the intersection of Queen Street, in the parking lot of the former Bertucci’s Restaurant. The pole also had several transformers attached to it.

No one was injured, but traffic was affected.

Police said Queen Street is open in both directions, but police officers will be directing drivers through the area and temporary closures of the intersection are possible as Eversource restrings lines across Spring Street. 

A Texas man was killed in a crash on Interstate 95 North in Greenwich Wednesday night.

State police identified the man as 58-year-old Manuel Carlos De Pena, of Bulverde, Texas.

He was a passenger om the car that spun out after hitting another vehicle near exit 4 just before 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to state police.

Two people in another vehicle that was struck suffered minor injuries, according to police.

“This is why we rescue.”

It’s a fitting caption for a photo melting animal lovers’ hearts across the country - A beagle once on the brink of euthanasia seen snuggling next to its rescuer on an inspiring “freedom ride.”

They’re the words of an Ohio shelter founder who help saved Gregory the dog from death row.

Gregory was slated to be euthanized at the Franklin County Dog Shelter in Columbus after testing positive for heartworm, according to rescuers. 

Schenley Hutson Kirk, who co-founded HOUND Rescue and Sanctuary, helped rescue Gregory before the dog was euthanized. She shared a photo of the pooch leaving what could have been its final home.

"’Gregory’ is one thankful and appreciative Beagle!” her Facebook post read. “He KNOWS he is SAFE! He is Heartworm Positive and will be going through treatment, but he knows he is in good hands! We will get him healthy and provide him all the love he so deserves and a wonderful future!!”

The caption was accompanied by a photo of Kirk’s husband, Joe, driving Gregory on a “freedom ride.” In the image, Gregory is seen nuzzling Joe’s shoulder with a paw on Joe’s arm.

Joe told "Today" he drove two hours to pick up the dog, saying the moment he met Gregory it felt like they "known each other for years." 

Normally, the shelter transports dogs in crates, but Joe told "Today" he felt Gregory had been caged up for too long and chose to instead tether him in the back seat. 

“This is what makes it all worthwhile!” Kirk wrote. “This is why we rescue.”

The post has been shared more than 9,000 times since it was posted at the start of the month. Kirk has asked for donations to help with Gregory’s treatment, which can be made here.

The couple said the shelter already has an adoption offer for Gregory since the post went viral. Once the dog is cleared by a vet, the adopters will have their first meet and greet with what could be the newest member of their family. 

When three Americans returned to the U.S. Thursday after being held captive in North Korea, journalist Laura Ling was "overjoyed" and couldn't help but think of her own experience of isolation, fear and destitution while held captive — and how those experiences influenced her initial days back home.

Ling said in an interview with NBC News that she had a new appreciation for "the smallest things." Music on the radio and the National Anthem made her emotional. Her gratitude deepened tremendously for even the smallest freedoms that “we tend to take for granted too often," she said.

“Just being able to take a walk, a stroll in my neighborhood, to look at the stars at night,” she said. “These were things that, luxuries that I didn't have when I was held in North Korea. And so they became little treasures for me.”

Ling was held captive in 2009 for 140 days with fellow journalist Euna Lee. The pair were working at the time for the now-defunct Current TV on a story about North Korean defectors. Former President Bill Clinton traveled to Pyongyang and helped secure their release.

Police have responded to a crash involving a school bus on Route 34, near Greenway Road, in Orange.

Police said school bus #59 serving Orange was involved in the crash and the are no reports of injuries to anyone on the bus. 

EMS and fire crews have responded as well.

A former nurse at Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Center in Uncasville is accused of sexually assaulting an inmate.

Connecticut State Police said 46-year-old Dana Gibson turned herself in on an active arrest warrant Tuesday. According to the arrest warrant application, Gibson was a registered nurse employed by UConn Health and assigned to the Radgowski Correctional Facility under Correctional Managed Health Care (CMHC).

The arrest warrant application states at a male inmate told investigators he was having a relationship with Gibson in March, and that the relationship had been going on for five or six months. The inmate said the relationship started when he was assigned as a worker in the medical unit. According to the documents, the victim said he came forward because “he was tired of looking over his shoulder and worrying about what would happen,” and that he wanted to end the relationship but did not know how. The victim told police he and Gibson never had intercourse, but had other sexual contact.

When approached by investigators, Gibson admitted to having a relationship with the inmate, but denied there was sexual contact when she learned State Police would be notified. She also opted to resign from state service, the warrant said.

Investigators discovered phone calls and letters exchanged between Gibson and the inmate. In some of the recorded phone calls, Gibson discussed oral sex, according to the warrant application. After several interviews, Gibson admitted to sexual contact with the victim, the warrant states.

Gibson is charged with second-degree sexual assault. She turned herself into police and was released on a $25,000 bond. She is due in court on May 24, 2018.

Novartis CEO Vasant Narasimhan told employees in an internal memo Thursday that "yesterday was not a good day" for the company, after the pharmaceutical giant revealed it paid $1.2 million to President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen.

Narasimhan said "we made a mistake" in entering a contract in February 2017 with Cohen through his company, Essential Consultants, for guidance "as to how the Trump administration might approach certain US healthcare policy matters."

"As a consequence, [we] are being criticized by a world that expects more from us," Narasimhan said in the internal email, which was obtained by CNBC.

The day after the legislative session is always a time for reflection for lawmakers on where they succeeded and where they failed.

For Republicans, they viewed one measure's failure as a tremendous victory.

“I’m most proud of not getting tolls passed. I’ll tell you that," said Rep. Themis Klarides, (R - Derby), the top Republican in the Connecticut House. "They never thought it through properly this year. They never thought it through properly last year and that should give the people of Connecticut very serious concern about how they are trying to put forward policies in this state.”

In stark contrast, Rep. Joe Aresimowicz, (D - Berlin), the Speaker of the House, had a list of bills sitting in front of him during his post-session press conference with a list of bills that passed that he viewed as accomplishments.

The top of the list featured a measure aimed at helping women achieve pay equity in the workplace by banning the question of pay history during job interviews.

“Pay equity for women, something long overdue.," Aresimowicz said. "Putting them on an equal playing field when it comes to negotiations.”

On tolls, lawmakers toward the end of the session were only going to consider a measure that would have studied the topic and then returned that information to lawmakers before the next session when a decision could have been made. A vote never took place.

Klarides argued the issue was never fully examined by Democrats, despite her successful efforts to kill the measure that would have provided more information.

She said during a news conference at the Legislative Office Building, “All we have to work with are these proposals and then they get scared and say, 'well, let’s study it,' well what have we been doing for years and now all of a sudden we’re going to study it? Has it been a non-study before? What somebody just came up with it over coffee one day at Starbucks? What does that leave us to believe? That they haven’t studied it? No, they haven’t.”

Democrats failed to even bring up for a vote a bill that could have raised the minimum wage in Connecticut $15 per hour. The issue was a priority at the beginning of the session, but as the days and weeks passed, the arguments for raising it from $10.10, got weaker, according to the Speaker of the House.

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“We’ve done a few minimum wage increases," Aresimowivz said, referring to Connecticut raising the wage years ago. "We haven’t seen the results and the boost in the economy that we thought, so that argument became a little more difficult. Seeing the lagging growth in the state of Connecticut when the reports come out, make it a little more difficult.”

On the minimum wage issue, Klarides said the issue needs to be discussed as part of a larger conversation on taxes and the state's business climate.

Klarides said, “When you are putting limitations on businesses in one way but not helping them in another to actually grow because growing businesses and making people want to be here because they can afford to be here is what’s going to help everybody.”

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With winter weather finally behind us, it’s not unusual to see more motorcycles out on the road, but the number of crashes involving them is causing concern.

“We’ve already had three fatalities just in this past week and other pretty serious crashes,” said Amy Parmenter, spokesperson for AAA Greater Hartford.

In Enfield on Tuesday, a 63-year-old East Windsor man was killed when his motorcycle collided with a dump truck. On Wednesday, Waterford Police responded to a serious motorcycle crash by the high school.

In the past five years, more than 250 people have been killed in motorcycle crashes in the state, according to AAA.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), per mile driven, motorcycles have a fatality rate 28 times higher than passenger vehicles. When it comes to Connecticut in particular, the numbers aren’t good.

“We have a higher-than-average rate of motorcycle deaths as a percentage of traffic fatalities overall when you compare us to the rest of the country,” said Parmenter.

So AAA is reminding drivers and motorcyclists to share the road and look out for each other. It’s something drivers we spoke to say they already do.

“We generally try to give them a little more room,” said Wethersfield resident Sean Fournier. “We’re a lot bigger than they are so just generally be a little bit more aware of them.”

Officials said something as simple as that can make a big difference on the roads.

“This is an issue for Connecticut, and it’s something we can maybe all make a difference in if we just pay a little bit more attention,” said Parmenter.

NHTSA said motorcyclists killed in crashes are more likely to be alcohol-impaired than drivers of any other vehicle type, so it’s another important reminder to not drink and drive.

A federal judge will not dismiss a lawsuit challenging the government’s authority to search personal electronics, like cell phones, at the United States border without warrants, NBC News reported.

Judge Denise Casper of the U.S. District Court in Boston said searching electronic devices is "categorically, more intrusive than searches of one's person or effects."

The order, issued by the court last week, rejected the government’s argument that personal electronics can be searched without warrants under the same authority that allows luggage and other physical containers to be searched by the Department of Homeland Security.

The lawsuit, brought last year by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, seeks to wipe out policies that allow agents of Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement broad discretion to search the personal devices of anyone entering the U.S., such as cellphones and laptops.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are discussing ways to safeguard special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into possible ties between the Trump 2016 campaign and Russia, NBC News reported.

Talks about a "Plan B" are unfolding after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to bring legislation to the floor for a vote that would have protected Mueller, Connecticut Democrat Sen. Richard Blumenthal said. A draft of the bipartisan bill passed the Judiciary Committee last month. 

There has been considerable public debate on whether President Donald Trump will fire Mueller,  but much concern also stems from the possibility of Trump replacing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversees the special counsel probe. If that were to happen, Mueller’s investigation could be greatly impacted.

The discussions on protecting Mueller, Blumenthal said, "involve assuring the evidence is preserved and reports are done if the special counsel is fired or other political interference is undertaken by the president."

A man was shot and killed in Hartford early Friday morning and police are looking for the shooter.

Shot spotter notified police of 10 shots on Huntington Street just before 1 a.m. and the victim, who had been shot several times, was found in a driveway on Collins Street.

He was rushed to St. Francis Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.

Investigators are looking for evidence and witnesses who will lead them to a suspect.

Huntington Street is closed at Collins Street.

A school bus hit a deer on Route 17 in Middletown Friday morning. 

Four students were on the bus, but they were not injured. 

The deer had died, according to the crew at the scene.

Forensic evidence discovered in a U.S. Navy investigation into the homicide of a Green Beret last year indicates two Marines may have been present on the night he died in Africa, five U.S. defense officials told NBC News.

Staff Sgt. Logan Melgar was choked to death before dawn on June 4, 2017, in shared embassy housing in the capital of Mali.

According to an Army Criminal Investigative Division report from September, two Navy SEALs said they were engaging in horseplay with Melgar when they fell down and Melgar stopped breathing. They were already under investigation.

Representatives of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and U.S. Marine Special Operations Command declined to comment on the possible presence of the Marines, citing policy not to comment on open investigations.

Gas prices are now over $3 a gallon in Connecticut for the first time since December 2014, according to the AAA Allied Group. The average gas price in Connecticut is $3.01 per gallon in Connecticut and $2.858 nationwide.

Experts from AAA say the price of gas is expected to continue to rise at least into Memorial Day weekend, but possibly longer, after the president withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal and re-imposed sanctions. 

The average family will spend about $200 more on gas this summer than last, according to AAA.

The AAA website has a gas calculator to help you determine how much it will cost to go where you are going. Check it here.

Gas Buddy tracks the lowest gas prices in Connecticut, so you can find the least expensive gas in your area. Check here.

New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart is dropping out of the race for governor and will instead run for lieutenant governor, according to a Connecticut Republican Party official.

The revelation comes as the Connecticut GOP begins its convention Friday at Foxwoods.

Stewart entered the governor's race in March, much later than the rest of the crowded field.

Stewart won her first of three terms as the New Britain's mayor in 2012 becoming, at the time, the youngest mayor of a city of New Britain’s size in the country.

One person is in custody after deputies responded to a Palmdale high school Friday morning following a report of a man with a gun on campus.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department confirmed deputies responded to Highland High School, located in the high desert north of Los Angeles. They did not confirm reports of an active shooter.

Details regarding the individual in custody were not immediately available.

Los Angeles County fire officials said one person was hospitalized, but they did not have details about the individual's condition.

NBC4 crews are headed to the scene. Refresh this page for updates. 

NBC4 crews are headed to the scene. Refresh this page for updates. 

A person who was hit by an Acela on the tracks in Westbrook Friday morning has died, according to state police.

Officials from Amtrak said the Acela Express 2153 train traveling from Boston to Washington, D.C. hit a person who was trespassing on the tracks around 7:45 a.m. 

Ninety-six passengers are onboard and no passengers or crew have been injured. 

The train "will be terminated" at Penn Station in New York, according to the Amtrak Northeast Twitter account, and passengers will be transferred to Acela 2155.

Amtrak service between New Haven and Providence was stopped, which affected Train 2190, 190, 2150,170, 95 and, 2155, but it appears trains are moving again. 

New Haven police are investigating the death of a woman in North Haven and they have charged her husband with assault. Police said he is accused of running her over in the driveway and dragging her.

Police responded to Scrub Oak Road at 7:20 p.m. after receiving reports that a woman had been hit by a car and said the woman’s husband, Francesco Suppa, had been driving the car and told authorities it was an accident, according to police.

As police investigated, they learned the couple had been involved in a dispute prior to the crash. They said Suppa started his vehicle, sped in reverse down his driveway toward Scrub Oak Road, hit his wife and dragging her before stopping and driving forward, police said.

The victim had serious life-threatening injuries and was transported to an area hospital Thursday and Suppa was taken into custody and charged with assault in the first degree and he was released after posting a $50,000 bond.

On Friday morning, police said the woman died from the injuries. Police have not released her name.

Police are investigating and said this is an ongoing domestic violence investigation.

Suppa will be arraigned Friday. It's not clear if he has an attorney.