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Engine of Southwest Airlines 737 Explodes; Kills 1 Passenger, Injures 7

posted by martyb on Thursday April 19 2018, @08:57AM   Printer-friendly
from the lots-of-groundings-and-inspections-coming dept.

-- OriginalOwner_ writes:

In an excellent article, jam-packed with details, The Seattle Times reports: (Javascript required)

One passenger died and several others were injured [April 18] when a Boeing 737 operated by Southwest en route from New York to Dallas suffered a serious engine blowout. Shrapnel broke a passenger window and penetrated the fuselage, forcing an emergency landing in Philadelphia.

[...] Southwest Flight 1380 [...] suffered a serious engine blowout 20 minutes into the flight at 32,500 feet

[...] The left engine exploded with such force that shrapnel penetrated the aircraft's fuselage and broke a window in the passenger cabin, causing depressurization and the deployment of oxygen masks.

The pilots--Capt. Tammie Jo Shults and an unidentified co-pilot--guided the plane carrying 144 passengers and five crew to a smooth landing. According to flight-tracking service FlightAware, the jet landed 20 minutes after the explosion.

Emergency vehicles drenched the damaged left engine in foam to prevent a fire as passengers exited the plane via stairs on the right side.

The woman who died was identified by Albuquerque TV news station KOAT as Jennifer Riordan, 43, a mother of two children and vice president of community relations at Wells Fargo in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

In preliminary briefings, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairman Robert Sumwalt said that inspection of the damaged engine revealed that one of the titanium blades on the big fan had broken off at the root, and that there was evidence of metal fatigue at the site where it broke.

He said metal fatigue is a major problem.

[...] Southwest CEO [Gary Kelly] said the airplane had undergone a routine maintenance inspection two days earlier, on April 15.

Fox Business notes

The engines [...] were built by CFM, a joint venture between U.S.-based General Electric and French company Safran Aircraft Engines.

[...] The CFM56-7B model is the exclusive engine of Boeing's "737 Next Generation" of aircraft--a partnership which began in July 1993 and includes the 700 series--and produces 19,500 to 27,300 pounds of thrust, the company said. The engines have been in use since 1997 and power more than 6,700 aircraft globally.

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 19 2018, @01:39PM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 19 2018, @01:39PM (#669084)

    In today's climate? Yes, it is impressive the pilot was qualified and not a diversity hire.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 19 2018, @02:12PM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 19 2018, @02:12PM (#669101)

    I'm going to guess that Capt. Tammie Jo Shults does qualify as a diversity hire. Tough for your white male ego to admit that a hire can be both for quality and diversity?

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Thursday April 19 2018, @02:41PM (3 children)

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Thursday April 19 2018, @02:41PM (#669116) Journal

      You may guess, all you like. Would you care to bet money on your guess? I'd like a piece of that action!

      2. Shults Was One of the First Female Fighter Pilots for the U.S. Navy
      Shults, a native of New Mexico, graduated in 1983 from MidAmerica Nazarene University after growing up on a ranch. She had degrees in biology and agribusiness, The Kansas City Star reported.

      In March 2017, she spoke at a luncheon on campus, where she was honored for her many accomplishments, including being one of the first female fighter pilots in the U.S. Navy.

      An older article about her from 2006 is no longer online, but was shared in a forum about fighter pilots here. The story said that when Shults tried to attend aviation career day at her high school, she wasn’t allowed to go because they didn’t accept girls. So she enrolled at MNU because she was also interested in veterinary medicine, but her passion for flying didn’t go away. “In my junior year I went to an Air Force winging with a friend whose brother was getting his wings,” she said. “And, lo, there was a girl in his class.”

      Shults wrote about her Navy career in the book “Military Fly Moms,” by Linda Maloney, in 2012. She said she grew up near Holloman Air Force Base and often watched air shows.

      “Some people grow up around aviation. I grew up under it,” she wrote, adding she knew she “just had to fly.”

      Shults applied for the Air Force after she graduated. She wasn’t allowed to test to become a pilot, but the Navy welcomed her. She was one of the first female fighter pilots in the Navy’s history, and the first woman to fly F-18s. She later became an instructor.

      One of her MidAmerica classmates, Cindy Foster, told the Kansas City Star that she was initially met with a lot of resistance when she joined the Navy, because of her gender. “So she knew she had to work harder than everybody else,” Foster said. “She did it for herself and all women fighting for a chance. I know all women are still fighting today, but I’m extremely proud of her. She saved a lot of lives today.”

      3. She Wasn’t Able to Fly in Combat with the Navy, but She Was an Instructor

              @SouthwestAir These are the hero’s of SWA 1380 NYC to Dallas We lost an engine mid-flight and they guided back to Philly saved 149 on board pic.twitter.com/RNA8sXRBZA

              — Kristopher Johnson (@EMMS_MrJohnson) April 17, 2018

      She wasn’t allowed to fly in combat while she was in the Navy, according to a 2006 article that is no longer online but can be accessed in a forum about fighter pilots here. But she did become an “aggressor pilot” and an instructor. She resigned her commission in 1993 and joined Southwest Airlines.

      According to a Navy magazine story published in 1993, Shults was a member of the Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron (VAQ) 34. The story says that she had flown A-7 and F/A-18 aircraft. She said, “In AOCS (Aviation Officer Candidate School), if you’re a woman (or different in any way), you’re a high profile; you’re under more scrutiny.” She said that chances for women to gain knowledge in the aviation community were limited. “It would be nice if they would take away the ceilings (women) have over our heads,” she said. “In VAQ-34, gender doesn’t matter, there’s no adgvantage or disadvantage. Which proves my point – if there’s a good mix of gender, it ceases to be an issue.”

      Shults’ friend Kim Young told The Kansas City Star that her military training prepared her for this moment. “Those are the kinds of people you want as pilots. That’s what she does, and she’s good at it.”

      Unlike Fox news anchors, Tammie Jo wasn't hired for her looks.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 19 2018, @06:29PM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 19 2018, @06:29PM (#669210)

        But she still counts as a female qualifying as a diversity hire. What seems to blow your mind is that a hire can be both a diversity hire and a quality hire.

        • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 19 2018, @08:18PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 19 2018, @08:18PM (#669272)

          He's just angry that his white privilege doesn't go as far as it used to. In fact he's in complete denial about the existence of said privilege.

          • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday April 19 2018, @10:05PM

            by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Thursday April 19 2018, @10:05PM (#669346) Journal

            I exercise my white privilege on a daily basis. I go to work, Uncle Sam takes whatever portion of my wages he chooses to take, and I get what is left. This is so that deadbeats can have generous welfare checks. That is white privilege.