A Southwest Airlines Co. jetliner made an emergency landing in Philadelphia International Airport after an engine blew out, forcing the suspension of flights in and out of the airport, Bloomberg reports.
The cabin depressurized when engine debris broke a window, according to an NBC affiliate. A woman was drawn toward the hole, the affiliate said, citing a relative of a passenger. The plane landed safely. Photos posted on Twitter show the front of the left engine on the Boeing Co. 737-700 was ripped open.
Southwest said the flight, which was bound for Dallas from New York’s LaGuardia airport, had 143 customers and five crew members. The airline said it was in the process of transporting them to the terminal and was gathering more information about the incident.
The National Transportation Safety Board said in a tweet it was aware of the incident and was gathering information. The NTSB investigates the most serious engine failures and conducted a probe of another Southwest engine issue in 2016.
Reports of shrapnel shattering a window suggest that the engine broke apart in what is known as an “uncontained” failure. U.S. regulations require engines to be covered in tough casings designed to prevent metal from flying into fuel tanks and passenger areas if an engine breaks apart.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered a halt to arrivals and departures at the Philadelphia airport and delays were growing, according to an agency website.