A passenger on a Boeing 737 bound from New York to Dallas has recorded the fear they experienced aboard the Southwest plane that suffered engine explosion.
Marty Martinez, founder and CEO of Social Revolts digital marketing in Dallas shared that as the plane is going down, all he can think about is purchasing internet to at least communicate to the outside world for whatever that could have taken place. He was able to successfully shared two videos on his Facebook of what happened inside the plane.
Southwest Airlines Engine Explosion Videos
The first video showed him on the phone with his oxygen mask on. The record is heavily distorted but Martinez was able to write descriptions in the comment section of the video.
The passengers assumed right away that there was engine explosion and that it shattered one of the windows killing a passenger, writes Martinez. At this point, flight attendants attended to the crying passengers. A woman was sucked into the hole but was pulled back into the plane. A passenger also had a heart attack.
While there had been great panic inside, Martinez says the attendants have quickly covered the hole caused by the explosion. They were also calling for other passengers to help. At this point, the attendants were also trying to revive the woman.
After the moment of terror, the plane landed dramatically and it smelled like fire with ash coming down on everyone thru the vents, describes Martinez. He says it was terrifying but everyone was alright or so he thought. The woman died according to officials.
Boeing 737 With CFM56-7B Engine
The Southwest Airlines flight 1380 was flying from New York to Dallas and made an emergency landing in Philadelphia following the explosion.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, there was damage to of the aircraft's engines as well as the fuselage. The plane is a twin-engine Boeing 737 that is powered by the CFM56-7B engine made by CFM International.
In a statement, CFM international says that it already sent technical representatives to examine the plane. They are tasked to determine the cause of the accident. Nonetheless, the company assures that its engine has remained safe and reliable for airplane use.
"The engine has accumulated more than 350 million flight hours as one of the most reliable and popular jet engines in airline history," the company says in its statement.
Southwest Airlines Flight Explosion Investigation
It takes the most complicated engineering systems to create an aircraft engine. And once engine failure happens, investigation requires complicated analysis of the aircraft's maintenance practices and the mechanical engineering involved. Investigations also require knowledge on metallurgical and material sciences.
Investigators are faced with the challenge of interpreting remains of the plane as the physical evidence and how to logically correlate them to what could have caused the accident.
In the case of the Southwest Airlines explosion, the National Transportation Safety Board is heading the investigation. CFM and Boeing assured that they are both providing technical assistance in the investigation.
As of press time, NTSB is organizing its preliminary readouts. Chairman Robert Sumwalt says his team will return to Washington, bringing with them the airplane's flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder.
Meanwhile, here are Martinez's videos of the Southwest plane engine explosion:
