Woman Partially Sucked Out Of Jet That Left LaGuardia; 1 Dead

UPDATE at 6:31 p.m.: One person is dead after an airliner that took off from LaGuardia Airport had to conduct an emergency landing at the Philadelphia International Airport in response to a woman getting partially sucked out of the plane on Tuesday morning, officials say.

It's not clear yet if the person who was nearly sucked out of the plane is the passenger who died, National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Robert Sumwalt said in a press conference Tuesday afternoon.

KOAT News in Albuquerque, New Mexico has identified the person killed as Jennifer Riordan of Albuquerque. According to a bio on Riordan from the United Way of Central New Mexico, Riordan is a mother of two and has been married to her husband for 21 years.

Southwest Airlines flight #1380, heading to Dallas from New York, was forced to land at the airport at about 11:30 a.m. Officials say one of the jet's engines caught fire and a piece of shrapnel pierced a window, depressurizing the cabin and partially sucking the woman out of the plane.

Others on the flight pulled the woman from the window to safety, NBC10 reports.

Sumwalt said at the press conference that officials with the NTSB believe the issue stemmed from engine failure but will further investigate the cause and provide updates when possible. "This will be an extensive investigation," he said.

The pilot can be heard radioing with the air traffic controller saying "we have part of the aircraft missing," and "there is a hole and someone went out." The pilot also requested medical personnel respond to the airport due to injured passengers. Listen to the audio here.

The airport and Southwest Airlines both said the landing was safe.

Philadelphia Fire Officials said 12 other passengers were assessed and seven of those passengers were treated for minor injuries but were not taken to the hospital.

Philadelphia's Office of Emergency Management said it will provide a phone number later in the day for family and friends to call to check on their loved ones' status.

One passenger began live streaming the event on Facebook. The video of the stream is posted here.

"We were kind of out of control for a while," passenger Timothy Bourman told Philly.com "It seemed like the pilot was having a hard time controlling the plane. Honestly I think we just all thought we were going down."

Southwest Airlines said in a statement that there were 143 passengers and five crew members on board. "We are in the process of gathering more information," the statement reads. "Safety is always our top priority at Southwest Airlines, and we are working diligently to support our Customers and Crews at this time.

According to flight tracking website FlightAware.com, the jet was at 32,500 feet when it began descending after the engine issue occurred at about 11:04 a.m.

The airport said the Federal Aviation Administration lifted ground stop for flights waiting on the ground at other airports to depart for the airport and that flights are departing from the airport.

However, passengers should expect delays.

Philadelphia Fire Department crews were called to the scene at 11:13 a.m. and had the situation under control by 12:32 p.m.

One fire apparatus remains on scene, fire officials said.

Image via Amanda Bourman, used with permission

Reporting by Max Bennett