The wrecked engine of a Southwest Airlines Co jet was being examined on Wednesday by U.S. air safety officials investigating why it blew up in mid air, killing a passenger in the country’s first deadly airline accident in nine years.
Jennifer Riordan, a 43-year-old bank executive from New Mexico, was on a Southwest Airlines flight from Dallas from New York when the engine blew.
Some passengers on the flight said Ms Riordan was partially dragged headfirst out of a broken plane window which had been shattered by debris from the engine.
Passenger Eric Zilbert reportedly told New Zealand website Stuff: “From her waist above, she was outside of the plane.”
Jennifer Riordan (L) and an image of the plane being inspected after the engine exploded. Source: AAP
The engine exploded over Pennsylvania about 20 minutes after the Dallas-bound Southwest Flight 1380 left New York’s LaGuardia Airport with 149 people on board, sending pieces of shrapnel into the plane.
Southwest crews were inspecting similar engines the airline had in service, focusing on the 400 to 600 oldest of the CFM56 engines, made by a partnership of France’s Safran and General Electric, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.
It was the second time that style of engine had failed on a Southwest jet in the past two years, prompting airlines around the world to step up inspections.
NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt said on Tuesday that a preliminary investigation found an engine fan blade missing, having apparently broken off, and that there was metal fatigue at the point where it would normally be attached.
Pieces of the engine including its cowling - the smooth metal exterior that covers its inner workings - were found about 60 miles (97 km) away from Philadelphia airport, Sumwalt said.
Sumwalt said the investigation could take 12 to 15 months to complete. NTSB officials said they would next update the public on their investigation at 4:30 p.m. ET (2030 GMT).
A National Transportation Safety Board inspection crew was also combing over the Boeing 737-700 for signs of what caused the engine to explode.
"My last few moments"
Videos posed on social media showed passengers grabbing for oxygen masks and screaming as the plane, piloted by 56-year-old Tammie Jo Shults, a former fighter pilot for the U.S. Navy, prepared for its descent into Philadelphia.
“All I could think of in that moment was, I need to communicate with my loved ones,” passenger Marty Martinez told ABC’s Good Morning America on Wednesday. During the incident, he logged on to the plane’s in-flight WiFi service to send messages to his family.
“I thought, these are my last few moments on Earth and I want people to know what happened,” said Martinez, who live-streamed on Facebook images of passengers in oxygen masks as the plane made a bumpy descent into Philadelphia.
Southwest Airlines experienced an unrelated safety incident early on Wednesday when a Phoenix-bound flight was forced to land at Nashville airport shortly after takeoff because of bird strike.
The airline expected to wrap up its inspection of the engines it was targeting in about 30 days.
The GE-Safran partnership that built the engine said it was sending about 40 technicians to help with Southwest’s inspections.
A photo believed to be of a damaged window of the Southwest Airline flight. Source: Twitter: @mtranchin
Ms Riordan was a vice president of community relations for Wells Fargo bank.
She was on the way back from a New York business trip, where she had sent a tweet on Monday showing the view from her hotel in Midtown Manhattan with the caption: “Great business stay.”
“The entire Southwest Airlines Family is devastated and extends its deepest, heartfelt sympathy to the customers, employees, family members and loved ones affected by this tragic event,” Southwest said in a statement.
How easy is it to get sucked out of a plane?
University of Melbourne Engineering expert Professor Nicholas Hutchins said cabin depressurisation was “quite rare” but not impossible.
“There have been a few notable incidents over the decades, but it is usually a secondary effect that is caused by some other failure.”
He said it seemed a piece of the engine or engine casing pierced the fuselage (broke the plane window).
“The pressure at altitude (10000m) is lower than at sea-level. For passenger comfort and safety, the cabin is pressurised to a higher pressure (usually approx. 2000m). This means that at altitude the cabin pressure is greater than the pressure outside.
“If the fuselage is punctured (much like a punctured balloon) this high-pressure air will want to rush out. This is why people and objects can occasionally get sucked out.”
A passenger believed to be on the Southwest Airline flight that made an emergency landing. Source: Facebook: Marty Martinez
Flight’s timeline
Flight 1380 took off from New York’s LaGuardia Airport at around 10:27 am and was diverted to Philadelphia just under an hour later, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.com. Southwest Chief Executive Officer Gary Kelly said the flight landed at Philadelphia International at around 11:20 am.
Flight 1380 was diverted to Philadelphia for an emergency landing after crew members reported damage to an engine, the fuselage and at least one window, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
The engine on the plane’s left side threw off shrapnel when it blew apart, shattering a window and causing rapid cabin depressurisation.
Television images showed that most of the outer casing around the left engine of the Boeing Co 737-700 ripped away and a window near the engine on the plane’s left side was missing.
At 11:18 am passenger Marty Martinez posted on Facebook a live video of himself on the plane, wearing a breathing mask, as the plane descended. More than an hour later, at 12:27 pm Martinez posted pictures of a blown-out window and the badly damaged engine.
