Seven other passengers also sustained minor injuries in the explosion.
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A retired nurse was among those on Southwest Flight 1380 who tried in vain to help save a New Mexico woman on Tuesday.
The last passenger death on a U.S. commercial flight was in 2009. “It just shredded the left-side engine completely”. The grainy footage shows a man attempting to secure his yellow oxygen mask while updating loved ones following his feed.
Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel also praised the passengers who did “some pretty incredible things under some pretty hard circumstances”, in their attempts to save Riordan and plug the hole in the aircraft as it made its emergency landing.
In a written statement, Southwest Airlines said it was “devastated” over Tuesday’s event.
The Boeing 737 was headed to Dallas with 144 passengers and five crew members.
Passenger Marty Martinez shared images from on-board the plane.
The Flight 1380 had taken off from LGA at 09:43 local time. They didn’t immediately explain what went wrong.
“Engine exploded (we think) and shattered one of the windows killing a passenger”, he wrote on Facebook.
Another passenger, Eric Zilbert, an administrator with the California Education Department, said: “From her waist above, she was outside of the plane”.
A woman was partially sucked out of the plane when the cabin rapidly depressurized.
“Today, Albuquerque lost a thoughtful leader who has always been part of the fabric of our community. this is a tremendous and tragic loss for Jennifer’s family and many others throughout our city”, tweeted Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller.
Bunn surmises that if the cowling flew off and hit the plane’s plexiglass window, the incoming wind would suck the air – and anyone in its path – through the window.
In the chaos, it was hard to hear anyone.
The plane was traveling around 500 mph when the incident happened, according to a tracking tool on Flight Aware, and descended by more than 3,000 feet per minute until the pilots leveled out around 10,000 feet.
Sumwalt said the investigation could take 12 to 15 months to complete. “We’re going to do this!'”
The plane was met by emergency services when it landed.
“She was wonderful in every possible way – as a mother, wife, friend, businesswoman”, said Leean Kravitz, a friend of Riordan’s.
Passengers applauded captain Tammie Jo Shults for landing the plane safely. “My brother says she’s the best pilot he knows”. It appears we are going down! Anyway, the crew and the pilot, they got it landed somehow. “Finally when we. came to a halt, of course, the entire crowd was (in) tears and people crying and we were just thankful to be alive”.
Once the plane touched ground safely in Philadelphia, fire trucks began extinguishing flames from the wing and medical attention was provided for the passengers, Lujan said.
All air traffic at Philadelphia was put on hold.
Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board said one of the engine’s fan blades broke off from the hub during the flight.
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In a news conference, NTSB chairman Robert Sumwalt said one of the engine’s fan blades was separated and missing.
