UPDATED 4:23 p.m. ET: The Associated Press just announced that a federal investigator says one passenger has died. Whether this refers to the aforementioned heart attack or the woman nearly being sucked out of the aircraft is yet unclear.
The 149 passengers of Dallas-bound Southwest Airlines flight 1380 are thanking their lucky stars today.
Shortly after take-off from LaGuardia Airport in New York City, one of the jet engines forcibly depressurized after a piece of engine shrapnel flew off and broke a window. This resulted in a woman nearly being sucked out of the aircraft. Fortunately, after a successful emergency landing, it appears everyone is safe—but the experience certainly seems harrowing enough.
According to NBC10, passenger Todd Baur said the woman nearly lost her life when that window gave way, but passengers nearby saved her life. “One passenger, a woman, was partially…was drawn out towards the out of the plane…was pulled back in by other passengers,” said Baur.
The plane made an emergency landing at Philadelphia International Airport around 11:30 a.m. EST, after reportedly flying at an altitude of 32,500 feet when the accident occurred. In order to get to a less harsh environment as quickly as possible, the plane descended by over 3,000 feet per minute before leveling out at around 10,000 feet, then landing safely. One passenger reportedly shared a live video on his Facebook page, and photos of passengers with their oxygen masks on.
“Something is wrong with our plane! It appears we are going down! Emergency landing!! Southwest flight from NYC to Dallas!!” Marty Martinez reportedly wrote online. “We are bracing for landing!!”
According to the NY Post, he expounded with further info before, during, and upon landing. “Someone on the plane had a heart attack and it looks like an engine blew out then a window was blown open. We are still on the plane and they are trying to revive a woman on the plane,” he wrote on Facebook.
According to NBC10, Baur said the woman who nearly lost her life is said to have been taken to a nearby Philadelphia hospital.
Southwest issued a statement on the incident:
