Woman Nearly Sucked Out of Plane After Engine Explosion Blows Out Window on Southwest Flight
A Southwest Airlines flight en route from LaGuardia Airport in New York to Dallas made an emergency landing in Philadelphia in a terrifying incident.
Southwest Airlines said in a statement on their Twitter page that they were “aware” of the incident on Flight #1380 and were in the process of evacuating the plane. The flight held 143 passengers and five crew members.
“Safety is always our top priority at Southwest Airlines and we are working diligently to support to Customers and Crews at this time,” they said. “We will share updates to the flight as they are confirmed.”
Update on Flight #1380: pic.twitter.com/JhwVlUBeia
— Southwest Airlines (@SouthwestAir) April 17, 2018
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Passenger Marty Martinez shared a Facebook live video showing him with an oxygen mask on captioned, “Something is wrong with our plane! It appears we are going down! Emergency landing!!”
Martinez spoke to CBS News shortly after the plane had landed in Philadelphia, where he explained something went wrong about 30 minutes into the trip.
“All of a sudden, we heard an explosion and I come to find out that the engine exploded on the left side of the plane,” he said. “That explosion caused one of the windows to explode in row 17 of the plane, which was just two aisles over from me.”
He added, “I thought I was cataloging the last moments of my existence. It was absolutely terrifying.”
Martinez shared photos on Facebook of the broken window.
DEVELOPING:
Passenger describes moments inside Southwest Airlines flight after engine exploded
"All of a sudden, we hear an explosion and come to find out that the engine exploded on the left side of the plane and that explosion blew out a window Just 2 aisles over from me." pic.twitter.com/5H0ycTEeAn
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) April 17, 2018
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MORE:
“The plane felt like it was freefalling going down and we were probably going down for 10 or 15 minutes and of course, everyone is freaking out. Everyone is crying. It was the scariest experience.”Passenger describes moments inside the Southwest Airlines flight pic.twitter.com/vHx7UJyTm3
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) April 17, 2018
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“The plane felt like it was freefalling going down and we were probably going down for 10 or 15 minutes and of course, everyone is freaking out,” he recalled, saying even the flight attendants were visibly upset. “Everyone is crying. It was the scariest experience.”
Martinez said they received no instruction from the crew or pilot during the landing, saying it wasn’t until they landed that a flight attendant said that an engine had blown out.
What a flight! Made it!! Still here!! #southwest #flight1380 pic.twitter.com/Cx2mqoXVzY
— Joe Marcus (@joeasaprap) April 17, 2018
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Todd Baur, the father of one passenger onboard, told NBC Philadelphia that a woman was nearly sucked out of the broken window.
She “was partially … was drawn out towards the out of the plane” and “was pulled back in by other passengers,” Baur said, adding that she was taken to a hospital.
PHL Update 12:35 PM: FAA has issued ground stop for planes on the ground at other airports waiting to depart for PHL. Check flight status with your airline. Flights are departing PHL. Passengers should expect delays.
— PHLAirport (@PHLAirport) April 17, 2018
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Philadelphia Airport tweeted that passengers should expect delays following an order from the Federal Aviation Administration that is preventing flights en route to Philadelphia from taking off.