A terrifying incident on board a Southwest flight. Flight 1380 was flying from LGA to DAL when it contacted air control to announce an emergency landing.
"We have a part of the aircraft missing": Listen to the dramatic communications between the pilot of Southwest flight 1380 and air traffic control as plane from NYC comes into Philadelphia for emergency landing https://t.co/CgWfJH1DhY pic.twitter.com/QKmWOXNJ0r
— NBC New York (@NBCNewYork) April 17, 2018
Marty Martinez was on the plane and sending out messages and pictures via Facebook Live as the plane started to rapidly descend. Martinez said as oxygen masks were deployed flight attendants were crying and he wanted to record what he thought were the last few moments of his life.
As a Southwest flight made an emergency landing in Philadelphia on Tuesday, a passenger live streamed the terrifying moment the plane went down. Here's what we know about the incident so far: https://t.co/7XssSUw3Zu pic.twitter.com/tMmQjQMwel
— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 17, 2018
https://twitter.com/joeasaprap/status/986277894279311360
As a Southwest Airlines jet hurtled 32,000 feet over suburban Philadelphia, an rare engine explosion caused a passenger’s window to burst, partially pulling the woman sitting next to the opening out of the plane.
“The plane dropped immediately,” said Matt Tranchin, who was sitting three rows behind the broken window. Plane smelled like smoke. Ash was all around us.
Another passenger, Eric Zilbert, said “several heroic gentlemen” pulled the woman back into the plane and immediately performed CPR. Tranchin said she was covered in blood.”
Officials have confirmed one person died, but it isn’t clear whether it’s the same person. Time magazine reports this is the first death on a U.S. flight in almost a decade:
“The last fatal U.S. airline crash was on Feb. 12, 2009, when Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashed while approaching Buffalo, New York, according to the NTSB. Fifty people died in the crash, including 45 passengers, two pilots, two flight attendants and one person who was on the ground.”
Many are applauding the pilot Tammie Jo Shults saying if it weren’t for her actions more people could have died.
Tammie Jo Shults, pictured left, was the pilot of Southwest Flight 1380 when an engine failed mid-air. She is being hailed as a hero for safely landing the plane. Shults previously was a Navy fighter pilot who was one of the first women to fly F-18s: https://t.co/Dz6qCMtZZ8 pic.twitter.com/TxwyspJq5J
— Tom Cleary (@tomwcleary) April 17, 2018
As for the cause of the engine failure, the NTSB is on the scene gathering information.
https://twitter.com/justinjm1/status/986285669323608064
NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt says there was one fatality in the Southwest emergency landing. https://t.co/8cRbK4rdDX
— Veronica Rocha (@VeronicaRochaLA) April 17, 2018
Southwest’s CEO released this statement.
Southwest Airlines confirms accident; our Hearts are with those affected: https://t.co/COJ6wR1GFe pic.twitter.com/Gr1xEN8nhc
— Southwest Airlines (@SouthwestAir) April 17, 2018