It's been almost a decade since a passenger died in an accident involving one of the American commercial airlines . . . the last time it happened was in 2009. But tragically, that streak ended yesterday.
A Southwest flight had just taken off from LaGuardia in New York and was headed for Dallas yesterday morning when the left engine BLEW OUT.
A piece of shrapnel apparently flew off the engine and smashed a hole in one of the windows . . . and a woman was almost SUCKED OUT of the plane. The other passengers had to literally pull her back into the plane to try to save her life.
After that, everyone on the plane braced themselves, and the pilots were able to get the plane down safely and make an emergency landing in Philadelphia.
The woman was rushed to a hospital, but she died yesterday afternoon. She's been identified as a 43-year-old mother of two named Jennifer Riordan.
The National Transportation Safety Board is examining the plane to figure out what went wrong.
(NBC 10 - Philadelphia / CBS News / KOAT)
(Here are some photos one of the passengers on the plane took.)
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