Southwest shares grief after fatal plane malfunction
After a midflight breakdown led to the death of a passenger, the airline has offered condolences and promised more safety inspections. On Twitter, many applauded the flight crew.
It was the first domestic airline fatality in 10 years.
The flight with 149 passengers was headed from New York to Dallas when it was diverted for an emergency landing in Philadelphia after an engine malfunction damaged the plane, injuring several passengers and almost sucking one woman out of the plane. She died after passengers attempted to revive her.
As a Southwest Airlines jet hurtled 32,000 feet over suburban Philadelphia, a rare engine explosion caused a passenger’s window to burst, partially pulling the woman sitting next to the opening out of the plane.
Fellow passengers frantically worked to yank her back inside the airliner as it depressurized and quickly descended thousands of feet per minute, according to several passengers.
The frightening ordeal played out Tuesday morning onboard Southwest flight 1380 as it headed for Dallas. The Boeing 737-700 was about 20 minutes into its journey from New York’s LaGuardia Airport when the engine failure occurred. The plane, carrying 144 passengers and five crew, diverted to Philadelphia International Airport where it made an emergency landing at 11:20 a.m.
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