Southwest Airlines engine failure: What we know and don’t know
By Staff
One woman has died and several others were injured after an engine on a Southwest Airlines Boeing 727 failed in flight Tuesday, forcing the crew to make an emergency landing at Philadelphia International Airport.
An investigation is ongoing, though many questions remain. Here’s a breakdown of what we know and what we don’t just a day after the fatal incident.What We Know
- The Southwest flight took off from New York’s LaGuardia Airport bound for Love Field in Dallas around 10:45 a.m., carrying 144 passengers and five crew members. The engine apparently blew shortly after takeoff around 11:15 a.m. at 32,500 feet. A window broke, pulling a female passenger partially out, enveloping parts of the cabin with smoke and prompting the emergency landing at PHL. - Many passengers described being afraid for their lives, while some grabbed their phones to say what they believed were their last goodbyes to friends and loved ones through text and Facebook Live. - The Boeing-737 is an 18-year-old aircraft. It was certified through 2021, according to FAA records. - The plane landed safely at PHL at 11:23 a.m. where emergency crews attended to a fuel leak and a small fire in the engine. The incident was placed under control at 12:32 p.m., said Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel. - An investigation from the National Transportation Safety Board into the incident could likely take more than a year. - Jennifer Riordan, of Albuquerque, N.M., was sent to the hospital after the landing where she later died. She was a vice president of community relations with Wells Fargo, a wife and a mother of two. Seven other people were treated for injuries. - The jet has been towed to the Atlantic Aviation Terminal at the airport.
What we don’t know
- What exactly caused the engine to fail. The NTSB’s investigation will look at metal fatigue and a fan blade that broke off from one of the plane’s engines, Robert Sumwalt, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday. - When the engine was last inspected. - How Riordan died. The Philadelphia Medical Examiner will determine the cause.
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