Woman killed after Southwest plane window breaks mid-flight, forcing emergency landing

A woman was killed Tuesday when a Southwest Airlines' engine failed, causing the passenger's window to break and forcing the flight to make an emergency landing.

Jennifer Riordan, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, was reportedly partially sucked out of the plane, though officials have not confirmed the report from Reports from NBC 10 Philadelphia. The plane, which was heading to Dallas from New York City, made the emergency landing in Philadelphia.

Eric Zilbert, a passenger on the plane, told NBC 10 that "several heroic gentlemen" pulled Riordan, covered in blood, back into the plane and performed CPR.

Wells Fargo confirmed Riordan's death and is expected to release a statement.

Philadelphia Fire Department Commissioner Adam Thiel said seven other passengers were treated for minor injuries, but none were taken to the hospital. He added that there was a fuel leak and a small fire when firefighters arrived at the scene.

According to NBC 10 Philadelphia, a piece of engine from the Boeing 737 flew into a window and broke it, causing the jet to depressurize. The father of one of the passengers, Todd Baur, told NBC 10 that a woman was partially drawn out of the plane before being pulled back in by other passengers.

Robert Sumwalt, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said the death marks the first passenger fatality on a U.S. carrier since 2009, according to The Washington Post.

Southwest, headquartered in Dallas, said in a statement Tuesday afternoon that it was "gathering more information" about the incident. No officials from the airline were present at a later briefing from city officials.

In a video, Southwest CEO Gary Kelly said the company was "deeply saddened" by the incident.

A passenger on the flight, Marty Martinez, posted a Facebook Live video showing part of the emergency landing.

"Something is wrong with our plane! It appears we are going down! Emergency landing!! Southwest flight from NYC to Dallas!!" he wrote. In the video, Martinez is wearing an oxygen mask.

Martinez also posted photos of the damaged plane on Facebook. He said in the post that the explosion injured a woman sitting in the seat next to the broken window, but he wasn't sure of her condition.

Passenger Amanda Bourman said she saw emergency medical workers using a defibrillator to help a woman who was taken off the plane after it landed. The woman's condition wasn't immediately known.

The New York resident said she was seated near the back of the plane and was asleep when she heard a loud noise. She said the plane was fairly quiet because everyone was wearing an oxygen mask, while some passengers were in tears and others shouted words of encouragement.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators said one of the engine's fan blades broke off from the hub during the flight. The NTSB said it was sending a team to investigate.

Southwest said there were 143 passengers and five crew members on board the Boeing 737, which was headed from New York's LaGuardia Airport to Dallas' Love Field. Most passengers walked off the plane onto the tarmac at the airport after landing around 11:20 a.m.

News helicopter footage showed damage to the left engine and the tarmac covered with firefighting foam, although there were no signs of flames or smoke.

Southwest has about 700 planes, all of them 737s, including more than 500 737-700s like the one involved in Tuesday's emergency landing. The Boeing 737 is the best-selling jetliner in the world and has a good safety record.

John Goglia, a former NTSB member, said investigators will take the Southwest engine apart to understand what happened and will look at maintenance records for the engine.

"There's a ring around the engine that's meant to contain the engine pieces when this happens," Goglia said. "In this case it didn't. That's going to be a big focal point for the NTSB — why didn't (the ring) do its job?"

Goglia said the Boeing 737 is a safe plane but engine failures occur from time to time.

"We're pushing the engines to produce as much power as possible," he said. "We're right on the edge. Sometimes they fail, and that's why the containment ring is there."

The engine failure was reminiscent of a similar event on a Southwest Boeing 737-700 jet in August 2016 as it flew from New Orleans to Orlando, Florida. Shrapnel from the engine left a 5-by-16 inch hole just above the wing. Passenger oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling. Pilots landed the plane safely in Pensacola, Florida.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

This story was originally published April 17, 2018 at 1:40 PM with the headline "Woman killed after Southwest plane window breaks mid-flight, forcing emergency landing."