Passenger partly sucked out of jet window identified as bank executive
Philadelphia: A bank executive and mother-of-two from New Mexico has been identified as the woman who died after being partially sucked out of the blown-out window of a Southwest Airlines jet.
Jennifer Riordan was killed and seven people were injured after the twin-engine 737 apparently blew an engine at 30,000 feet and got hit by shrapnel that smashed the window.
The plane was headed from New York to Dallas with 149 people aboard when it detoured to Philadelphia.
News of Riordan's death was first shared by the assistant principal of the Albuquerque Catholic school attended by her two children.
In an email to parents, assistant principal Amy McCarty wrote that "the family needs all the prayers we can offer".
Riordan was a vice-president of community relations for Wells Fargo bank. She was the wife of Michael Riordan, who served until recently as the chief operating officer for the city of Albuquerque.
The New Mexico Broadcasters Association on social media said she was a graduate of the University of New Mexico and former board member.
The head of Southwest Airlines says that there were no problems with the plane when it was inspected two days ago.
Chief executive Gary Kelly said at a news conference in Dallas on Tuesday that there were no problems with the plane nor its engine when it was inspected Sunday.
Kelly said the plane had gone through 40,000 take-offs and landings since it was delivered in July 2000. That included 10,000 since its last overhaul.
The US Transportation Secretary praised the pilots, crew and passengers for helping to prevent a far worse tragedy.
Secretary Elaine Chao said her department was working with the National Transportation Safety Board to determine the cause and ensure the safety of the traveling public.
A crew member reported to air traffic controllers that a piece of the plane was missing and "someone went out."
In the audio recording of the exchange, the crew member said the plane needed to slow down.
Photos posted by passengers showed a heavily damaged window near the damaged engine. Passengers reported seeing a woman being given medical attention on the plane.
CFM International, the company that made the engine, said it was helping investigators figure out what went wrong.
It said in a statement on Tuesday that it sent technical experts to help the National Transportation Safety Board officials.
CFM is a joint venture of General Electric and France's Safran.
The company said the type of engine on the Southwest plane was installed on more than 6700 planes and had flown more than 350 million hours since its introduction in 1997.
The company said the engine had an outstanding safety and reliability record.
AP