Woman Partially Sucked Out Jet Window, Forcing Landing: 1 Dead

PHILADELPHIA – One person is dead after a jet engine caught fire and a piece of shrapnel pierced a window, partially sucking a woman out of a plane and forcing an emergency landing at Philadelphia International Airport Tuesday morning, National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Robert Sumwalt said in a press conference Tuesday afternoon

The person killed has been identified as Jennifer Riordan of Albuquerque. According to a bio on Riordan from the United Way of Central New Mexico, Riordan is a mother of two and has been married to her husband for 21 years.

Southwest Airlines flight #1380, heading to Dallas from New York, was forced to land at the airport at about 11 a.m. Tuesday, April 17. Sumwalt said in his press conference that at this time officials with the NTSB believe the issue stemmed from engine failure but will further investigate the cause and provide updates when possible.

"This will be an extensive investigation," he said.

The pilot can be heard radioing with the air traffic controller saying "we have part of the aircraft missing," and "there is a hole and someone went out." The pilot also requested medical personnel respond to the airport due to injured passengers.

Listen to the audio here.

Video footage from the scene showed a pool of fuel around the jet's left wing and engine.

The airport and Southwest Airlines both said the landing was safe.

A piece of shrapnel reportedly broke off the engine of the Boeing 737-700 jet, struck a window, and depressurized the cabin, according to NBC10.

Boeing issued a statement saying it is "providing technical assistance to the investigation."

A passenger was reported to have been nearly sucked out of the window and she has been taken to a hospital in unknown condition, 6ABC reports.

Others on the flight pulled the woman from the window to safety, according to NBC10.

Philadelphia Fire Officials said 12 other passengers were assessed and seven of those passengers were treated for minor injuries but were not taken to the hospital.

Philadelphia's Office of Emergency Management said it will provide a phone number later in the day for family and friends to call to check on their loved ones' status.

One passenger began live streaming the event on Facebook. The video of the stream is posted below.

"We were kind of out of control for a while," passenger Timothy Bourman told Philly.com "It seemed like the pilot was having a hard time controlling the plane. Honestly I think we just all thought we were going down.”

Southwest Airlines said in a statement that there were 143 passengers and five crew members on board.

"We are in the process of gathering more information," the statement reads ."Safety is always our top priority at Southwest Airlines, and we are working diligently to support our Customers and Crews at this time.

According to flight tracking website FlightAware.com, the jet was at 32,500 feet when it began descending after the engine issue occurred.

The airport said the Federal Aviation Administration lifted ground stop for flights waiting on the ground at other airports to depart for the airport and that flights are departing from the airport.

However, passengers should expect delays.

Philadelphia Fire Department crews were called to the scene at 11:13 a.m. and had the situation under control by 12:32 p.m.

One fire apparatus remains on scene, fire officials said.

Frightening video shows passengers wearing oxygen masks as Southwest jet prepares to make emergency landing in Philadelphia. https://t.co/hpUZKZMpzL pic.twitter.com/q43jNwd4DH
— ABC News (@ABC) April 17, 2018

Image via Amanda Bourman, used with permission