In this 2017 photo, Jennifer Riordan, of Albuquerque, N.M., poses for a photo in Albuquerque. Family, friends and community leaders are mourning the death of Riordan, a bank executive on a Southwest Airlines jet that blew an engine as she was flying home from a business trip to New York. (Marla Brose/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)
The Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The Latest on the Southwest Airlines plane that made an emergency landing in Philadelphia (all times local):
12:45 p.m.
Southwest Airlines sought more time to inspect fan blades like the one that snapped off during one of its flights and caused an engine breakup that left a passenger dead.
The airline opposed a recommendation by the engine manufacturer to require ultrasonic inspections of certain fan blades within 12 months, saying it needed more time to conduct the inspections.
Southwest made the comments last year after U.S. regulators proposed making the inspections mandatory. The Federal Aviation Administration has not yet required airlines to conduct the extra inspections but said late Wednesday that it would do so in the next two weeks.
The recommendation for more inspections followed an engine blowup on a 2016 Southwest flight.
On Tuesday, the engine on another Southwest jet exploded over Pennsylvania and debris hit the plane. A woman was killed.
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9:45 a.m.
A Texas firefighter on the Southwest Airlines flight that made an emergency landing in Philadelphia says his wife gave him the OK to leave his family and move toward the rear of the plane to aid a woman who had been partially blown through a damaged window.
An emotional Andrew Needum told reporters Thursday that he was traveling with his wife, two young children and parents when they heard a loud pop Tuesday.
Needum says he heard a commotion behind him and his wife, Stephanie, nodded at him to go help 43-year-old Jennifer Riordan.
Federal investigators say an engine blew apart Tuesday on the flight from New York to Dallas, sending debris into the fuselage and shattering a window.
Riordan was sitting near the window and was pulled partially through. She later died.
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11:40 p.m.
U.S. airline regulators have ordered inspections on engine fan blades like the one that snapped off a Southwest Airlines plane, leading to the death of a woman who was partially blown out a window.
The Federal Aviation Administration's announcement late Wednesday comes nearly a year after the engine's manufacturer recommended the additional inspections, and a month after European regulators ordered their airlines to do the work.
Pressure for the FAA to act grew after an engine on a Southwest plane blew apart on Tuesday, showering the aircraft with debris and shattering a window. A woman sitting next to the window was partially blown out and died of her injuries. The plane, which was headed from New York to Dallas, made an emergency landing in Philadelphia.
In this Tuesday, April 17, 2018 photo, a National Transportation Safety Board investigator examines damage to the engine of the Southwest Airlines plane that made an emergency landing at Philadelphia International Airport in Philadelphia. A preliminary examination of the blown jet engine of the Southwest Airlines plane that set off a terrifying chain of events and left a businesswoman hanging half outside a shattered window showed evidence of "metal fatigue," according to the National Transportation Safety Board. (NTSB via AP)
The Associated Press
National Transportation Safety Board investigators examine damage to the engine of the Southwest Airlines plane that made an emergency landing at Philadelphia International Airport in Philadelphia on Tuesday, April 17, 2018. The Southwest Airlines jet blew the engine at 32,000 feet and got hit by shrapnel that smashed a window, setting off a desperate scramble by passengers to save a woman from getting sucked out. She later died, and seven others were injured. (NTSB via AP)
The Associated Press
This April 17, 2018 photo provided by Marty Martinez shows the window that was shattered after a jet engine of a Southwest Airlines airplane blew out at altitude, resulting in the death of a woman who was nearly sucked from the window during the flight of the Boeing 737 bound from New York to Dallas with 149 people aboard, shown after it made an emergency landing in Philadelphia. (Marty Martinez via AP)
The Associated Press
This April 17, 2018 photo provided by Marty Martinez shows the window that was shattered after a jet engine of a Southwest Airlines airplane blew out at altitude, resulting in the death of a woman who was nearly sucked from the window during the flight of the Boeing 737 bound from New York to Dallas with 149 people aboard, after it made an emergency landing in Philadelphia. (Marty Martinez via AP)
The Associated Press
In this Tuesday, April 17, 2018 frame from video, a National Transportation Safety Board investigator examines damage to the engine of the Southwest Airlines plane that made an emergency landing at Philadelphia International Airport in Philadelphia. A preliminary examination of the blown jet engine of the Southwest Airlines plane that set off a terrifying chain of events and left a businesswoman hanging half outside a shattered window showed evidence of "metal fatigue," according to the National Transportation Safety Board. (NTSB via AP)
The Associated Press
The engine on a Southwest Airlines plane is inspected as it sits on the runway at the Philadelphia International Airport after it made an emergency landing in Philadelphia, Tuesday, April 17, 2018. (Amanda Bourman via AP)
The Associated Press
A Southwest Airlines plane sits on the runway at the Philadelphia International Airport after it made an emergency landing in Philadelphia, on Tuesday, April 17, 2018. (David Maialetti/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)
The Associated Press
In this Tuesday, April 17, 2018 frame from video, a National Transportation Safety Board investigator examines damage to the engine of the Southwest Airlines plane that made an emergency landing at Philadelphia International Airport in Philadelphia. A preliminary examination of the blown jet engine of the Southwest Airlines plane that set off a terrifying chain of events and left a businesswoman hanging half outside a shattered window showed evidence of "metal fatigue," according to the National Transportation Safety Board. (NTSB via AP)
The Associated Press
In this Tuesday, April 17, 2018 frame from video, a National Transportation Safety Board investigator examines damage to the engine of the Southwest Airlines plane that made an emergency landing at Philadelphia International Airport in Philadelphia. A preliminary examination of the blown jet engine of the Southwest Airlines plane that set off a terrifying chain of events and left a businesswoman hanging half outside a shattered window showed evidence of "metal fatigue," according to the National Transportation Safety Board. (NTSB via AP)
The Associated Press
In this April 17, 2018 photo provided by Marty Martinez, Martinez appears with other passengers after a jet engine blew out on the Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 plane he was flying in from New York to Dallas, resulting in the death of a woman who was nearly sucked from a window during the flight with 149 people aboard. A preliminary examination of the blown jet engine that set off a terrifying chain of events showed evidence of "metal fatigue," according to the National Transportation Safety Board. (Marty Martinez via AP)
The Associated Press
In this April 17, 2018 photo provided by Marty Martinez, Martinez, left, appears with other passengers after a jet engine blew out on the Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 plane he was flying in from New York to Dallas, resulting in the death of a woman who was nearly sucked from a window during the flight with 149 people aboard. A preliminary examination of the blown jet engine that set off a terrifying chain of events showed evidence of "metal fatigue," according to the National Transportation Safety Board. (Marty Martinez via AP)
The Associated Press