Almost sucked out of jet

UPDATE: 7:20 p.m.

A Southwest Airlines jet blew an engine at 32,000 feet and got hit by shrapnel that smashed a window, setting off a desperate scramble by passengers to save a woman from getting sucked out. She later died, and seven others were injured.

Passengers dragged the woman back in as the sudden decompression of the cabin pulled her part way through the opening, but she was gravely injured.

The pilot of the plane, a twin-engine Boeing 737 bound from New York to Dallas with 149 people aboard, took it into a rapid descent and made an emergency landing in Philadelphia as passengers using oxygen masks that dropped from the ceiling said their prayers and braced for impact.

"I just remember holding my husband's hand, and we just prayed and prayed and prayed," said passenger Amanda Bourman, of New York. "And the thoughts that were going through my head of course were about my daughters, just wanting to see them again and give them a big hug so they wouldn't grow up without parents."

The dead woman was identified as Jennifer Riordan, a Wells Fargo bank executive and mother of two from Albuquerque, New Mexico. She was the first passenger killed in an accident involving a U.S. airline since 2009. The seven other victims suffered minor injuries.

NTSB chairman Robert Sumwalt said the engine will be taken apart and examined to understand what caused the failure. Photos of the plane on the tarmac showed a missing window and a chunk gone from the left engine, including part of its cover.

---

UPDATE: 1 p.m.

The National Transportation Safety Board has confirmed one person has died after a Southwest Airlines jet was forced to make an emergency landing in Philadelphia.

The NTSB says this is the first death aboard a U.S. plane in nine years.

---

ORIGINAL STORY: 10 a.m.

A Southwest Airlines jet made an emergency landing at Philadelphia's airport Tuesday with part of the covering from its left engine ripped off and a window damaged.

Passengers walked off the 737 plane onto the tarmac at the airport. It wasn't immediately known if anyone on board was injured. Southwest Airlines said there were 143 passengers and five crew members on board.

Passenger Marty Martinez did a brief Facebook Live posting while wearing an oxygen mask. He posted, "Something is wrong with our plane! It appears we are going down! Emergency landing!! Southwest flight from NYC to Dallas!!"

After the plane landed, he posted photos of a damaged window near the engine.

News helicopter footage showed damage to the left engine of the plane and the tarmac covered with firefighter foam, although there were no signs of flames or smoke.

The Philadelphia airport tweeted that Flight 1380 heading from New York's LaGuardia Airport to Dallas "landed safely at PHL and passengers are being brought into the terminal." No other details were given.

Tracking data from FlightAware.com shows the flight was heading west over New York's southern tier when it abruptly turned toward Philadelphia.

Messages seeking comment from the Federal Aviation Administration weren't immediately returned.

Firefighters were on the scene, but a spokeswoman couldn't immediately provide any details.