Yesterday the unimaginable happened during a flight from NYC to Dallas, a Southwest Airlines Flight 20 minutes into its flight sent out a mayday signal to Air traffic Control stating engine failure and had to make an emergency landing in Philadelphia.
Now that we have had some time to investigate, it has become clear that the engine had some "metal fatigue" which means the metal inside the fan blade broke and sent metal fragments flying against the plane. Those metal fragments broke one of the windows of the plane, and one passenger was sucked halfway out of the window. Other passengers sprang into action and pulled the woman, Jennifer Riordan (43) back into the plane, but unfortunately she later died from her injuries.
These types of tragedies are huge fear factors for many people, however flight still remains one of the safest means of travel.