A plane made an emergency landing in Philadelphia on April 17, killing one passenger and injuring seven.
The jet, which belongs to Southwest Airlines, was en route from New York to Dallas when one of its engines exploded, sending pieces of debris against the main body of the aircraft, CBS News reported.
The explosion broke a window of the airplane, pulling a female passenger partially out of the aircraft and ultimately killing her, NBC Philadelphia reported. According to CBS, the woman's name is Jennifer Riordan and she lives in New Mexico.
Seven other passengers sustained mild injuries and were treated after the plane landed. CNN reported that this is Southwest's first death from an in-flight incident.
NBC reported that the plane was 20 minutes out from New York's LaGuardia Airport when the explosion occurred, causing the plane to divert to Philadelphia International Airport where it made an emergency landing at 11:20 a.m. The plane was carrying 144 passengers and five crew members.
After landing, the plane was sprayed with fire-retardant foam by firefighters. This was to put out a small fire and stop a gas leak coming from the engine, Philadelphia Fire Comissioner Adam Thiel said to NBC.
The plane in question was powered by CFM engines. CFM, along with the National Transportation Safety Board and Southwest Airlines, are all investigating the engine failure as well as Southwest's fleet, according to CBS.
Passengers took photos and videos as the plane went down as well as after they disembarked showing the damage the engine and window had sustained, according to CBS and NBC.
According to NBC, a tracking tool on Flight Aware clocked the plane's speed at 500 mph and CNN reported its height to be 32,500 feet when the accident occurred. After the engine malfunctioned, the plane descended by over 3,000 feet per minute before it leveled out at approximately 10,000 feet. An aviation expert told NBC that this data indicated the pilot had been in control after the engine exploded.
NBC said the pilot of the plane has not yet been identified.
The accident is similar to an incident in Aug. 2016, when an engine failed mid-flight on a Southwest Airlines 737 traveling from New Orleans to Orlando. The plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Pensacola, Florida, although none of the 99 passengers or five crew members were hurt.
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