One passenger has died, and seven passengers have been injured as a result of an engine explosion on a Southwest Airlines jet bound from New York to Dallas. The plane, Flight 1380 was a Boeing 737-700 with 149 passengers and crew on board. The plane made a successful emergency landing at Philadelphia just before noon, local time.
The engine in question was a CFM56 which is widely used on passenger jets, with over 29,000 engines delivered to over 500 operators worldwide, powering 13,400 single-aisle commercial jetliners.
It is understood that when the engine exploded, debris shattered one of the planes windows and the passenger who died was sucked half way through it before fellow passengers were able to pull her back into the cabin.
Early reports have indicated that one of the engine fan blades is missing and that there are signs of metal fatigue. The National Transport Safety Board (NTSB) has already made an initial inspection of the stricken jet, though a full report on the incident could well take 12-15 months to prepare.
Part of the focus of attention will be on the ring around the engine that is supposed to contain engine pieces in the event of such an event as this. The engine failure is reminiscent of an incident on a Southwest Boeing 737-700 jet in August 2016 which was flying from New Orleans to Orlando, Florida. Shrapnel from the engine created a 5-by-16-inch hole just above the wing.
This is the first time there has been a fatality on board a commercial airliner in the United States for 9 years, when a Continental Express plane crashed near Buffalo, killing 49 people on board and one on the ground.
