Woman tragically dies after being 'sucked out of a plane' when an engine exploded

A woman has tragically died after an incident in which she was partially sucked out of a plane window that smashed when one of the engines on the aircraft exploded.

Jennifer Riordan, 43, was sitting in a window seat on the Southwest Airlines flight from New York to Dallas, Texas when the engine blew up out of nowhere, causing mass panic. According to other passengers, the engine combusted, causing a window to smash and the cabin to depressurise. Due to the force of this depressurisation, Riordan, a mother-of-two, was partially sucked out of the window.

Despite the fact the passengers were able to pull her back in and give her CPR, the businesswoman - who was the vice-president of the Wells Fargo bank in Albuquerque - died as a result of the incident.

The air traffic control recording was released by NBC News. In it, you can hear the plane's pilot, Tammie Jo Shults, saying: "We have a part of the aircraft missing, so we're going to need to slow down a bit."

When asked whether the plane was on fire, Shults replies saying no, but adds: "They said there is a hole and someone went out."

Credit: Facebook

Fortunately, the pilot was able to make an emergency landing in Philadelphia, delivering the remaining 148 people to land safely. However, according to the passengers on the plane, they believed that they were all about to die.

Marty Martinez, 29, who was on the flight, has revealed that he paid $8 to connect to the internet so that he could Facebook Live the terrifying descent of the Boeing 737-700. "I wanted to reach the people I love," he said.

The 29-year-old says that he was thinking about how his future had been taken away with him, with him thinking about all the plans he had for his life with his girlfriend.

Credit: Facebook

In the footage, Martinez can be seen inside of the plane cabin as the oxygen masks are deployed from the ceiling. Speaking to the Toronto Star about his choice to film what he believed were his final moments, Martinez said:

"I had no reason to be hopeful...as the plane was going down, I whipped out my credit card and bought Wifi. I thought that was my only avenue to get a message to the outside. I was just in shock.

"I felt like I had minutes left. I was bracing for an explosion. And then I saw the runway. It was only when we had hit the ground and you could tell the plane was slowing down - there was just a sigh of relief and cheers across the plane. Everyone was just so grateful to be alive."

Credit: Facebook

Speaking about Riordan, Martinez said: “A man was helping — there was blood all over him. She made no noise at all. I could see the blood all over that gentleman’s hands.”

Jennifer Riordan became the first passenger to have died on a US commercial flight since 2009.

It's a terrible incident and our thoughts are with all of those involved, particularly those close to Jennifer.