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Southwest passenger's death was the first in a US passenger airline accident in more than 9 years (LUV)

Before Tuesday's fatal Southwest Airlines engine failure, the most recent fatal accident was in February 2009, when a Colgan Air flight crashed.

  • On Tuesday,
  • One passenger died as a result of the accident, and seven received minor injuries, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
  • The NTSB's chairman, Robert Sumwalt, said the death was the first in a US passenger airline accident in over nine years.

On Tuesday, Southwest Airlines Flight 1380 from New York to Dallas made an emergency landing at Philadelphia International Airport after one of its engines failed in an explosion that sent shrapnel into the cabin. One passenger died as a result of the accident, and seven received minor injuries, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The Associated Press identified the passenger who was killed as Jennifer Riordan, 43.

The NTSB's chairman, Robert Sumwalt, said the death was the first in a US passenger airline accident in over nine years. Before Tuesday, the most recent fatal accident came in February 2009 near Buffalo, New York, when an aircraft operated by the now-defunct regional airline Colgan Air crashed. Fifty people were killed in that crash — 49 people on the plane and one person on the ground.

The NTSB said on Twitter that it would send a team to investigate Tuesday's accident.

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One of the passengers on Tuesday's flight, Marty Martinez, told CBS News about the incident while still on the aircraft.

Martinez said it appeared the plane's left engine had exploded and broken a window in the aircraft's 17th row about 30 minutes into the flight. He said "an older woman" was injured as a result of the explosion and removed from the aircraft.

"There is blood everywhere," he said.

The plane depressurized because of the broken window, and oxygen masks were released. Martinez started streaming his experience on Facebook Live. He said he thought he was documenting the last moments of his life.

"I thought I was cataloging the last moments of my existence the whole way ... It was absolutely terrifying," he said.

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According to Martinez, the aircraft descended for 10 to 15 minutes before making an emergency landing. During the descent, Martinez said, he and some of the plane's other passengers thought they wouldn't land safely.

"It felt like it was free-falling going down," he said. "Of course, everyone's freaking out. Everybody's crying. It was the scariest experience."

  • One person is dead after a major engine failure led a Southwest plane to make a terrifying emergency landing in Philadelphia
  • Southwest passenger says there was 'blood everywhere' after 'terrifying' emergency landing

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