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Engine of Southwest 737 Explodes; Kills 1 Passenger, Injures 7
In an excellent article, jam-packed with details, The Seattle Times reports [seattletimes.com]
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.
[...]Early reports from passengers on board Flight 1380 described a terrifying scene as the air pressure at the broken window sucked a woman partly out through the opening.
That set off a desperate scramble by fellow passengers and flight attendants to drag her back inside the plane.
"The top half of her torso was out the window", said Max Kraidelman, 20, a college student who was on the flight. "There was a lot of blood because she was hit by some of the shrapnel coming off the engine after it exploded."
The woman was unconscious when pulled back into the cabin.
"They were doing CPR on her and using the defibrillator while we were landing", Kraidelman said. "They were working on her while everyone else had their oxygen mask on."
It's not clear if the woman was Riordan.
Meanwhile, others tried to block holes in the fuselage with jackets.
Fox Business notes [foxbusiness.com]
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.
