One Person Died After Southwest Flight Blows Engine, Makes Emergency Landing

One person has died after a Southwest Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency stop in Philadelphia Tuesday after the jet’s left engine blew and the plane violently depressurized. Pieces of shrapnel from the engine flew into the plane’s main body section and through at least one window, the passengers and FAA said. The impact was so severe that a female passenger was partially sucked out of the plane when the window imploded, reports NBC. Todd Baur, a passenger’s father-in-law, relayed information from his daughter to NBC10. He said the woman was partially “drawn out” of the plane before being “pulled back in by other passengers.”

One passenger was rushed to a Philadelphia hospital with critical injuries, Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel said. It’s not clear if that passenger was the one who died. Twelve other passengers were evaluated by medics. Seven of them were treated for minor injuries at the scene.

The plane, flight number 1380, was originally headed towards Dallas after taking off from LaGuardia Airport in New York City. It was carrying 149 people. The jet’s left engine blew shortly after takeoff when the plane was flying around 32,500 feet.

Marty Martinez, a passenger on the plane, posted a Facebook Live during the emergency landing, reports CBS.

“Flight attendants ran over calling for passengers to help cover the hole as they broke down and began uncontrollably crying and looking horrified as they looked outside. Plane dropped dramatically and it smelled like fire with ash coming down on everyone thru the vents. Absolutely terrifying, but we are okay,” Martinez wrote.

Martinez told CBSN that he thought it was his last few minutes alive when the plane started free-falling. He described what happened, saying there was an explosion and then almost immediately, the oxygen masks down and then the engine hit the window and “busted it wide open.” He said he saw “blood everywhere.”