Passenger Dies After Southwest Plane’s Engine Explodes; FAA Warned About Engine Last Year

One person has died after an engine exploded on a Southwest Airlines flight, causing the cabin to “violently” depressurize on Tuesday, according to a Southwest press release and video from the airline’s CEO. “We are deeply saddened to confirm that there is one fatality resulting from this accident,” the release said. “The entire Southwest Airlines Family is devastated and extends its deepest, heartfelt sympathy to the Customers, employees, family members and loved ones affected by this tragic event.” The plane made a safe emergency landing in Philadelphia, but a woman was “partially sucked out of the plane.” The woman’s father, Todd Baur, told NBC 10 that she “was drawn out” of the plane and “was pulled back in by other passengers,” in a phone interview. Shrapnel from the engine broke a window, passengers said. The Boeing 737-700 left New York and was bound for Dallas. As the plane was being evacuated upon landing, passengers could reportedly be seen being “led off with crutches by firefighters.” The FAA last August proposed a notification to aircraft operators that the same engine type required additional inspection of fan blades after a “report of an in-flight fan blade failure and uncontained forward release of debris.” In 2016, a Southwest 737-700 flight also suffered “uncontained engine failure” and made an emergency landing in Pensacola.