On Tuesday, April 17, Southwest flight 1380 took off from New York’s LaGuardia Airport when 20 minutes into its journey to Dallas, TX, it faced engine failure.

The plane’s left engine exploded, causing a window to bust, and in turn a woman almost flew out of the plane. Passengers in the plane managed to pull her back into the plane as the plane descended in Philadelphia.

The woman, Jennifer Riordan, later died at the hospital from head, neck, and torso trauma. The reason for the window breaking is still under investigation.

Seven other people were injured during the incident and taken to the hospital to be treated for minor injuries.

The National Transportation Safety Board reported a blade missing from the engine of the plane along with metal fatigue where the blade should have been attached. This issue is internal which explains why the problem could have been overlooked during a maintenance inspection conducted from the outside of the plane.

During the incident, oxygen masks fell down from the cabin, a woman was dying, panic was inevitable. But the pilot of the plane, Tammie Jo Shults, remained calm during the emergency landing in Philadelphia.

Shults managed to land the plane as smoothly as she was able, keeping her technical and professionalism skills in tact as she managed the emergency. Many of the passengers aboard the plane have praised the way she handled the situation.

Sources

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