An engine exploded Tuesday on a passenger jet carrying 149 people, forcing an emergency landing shortly after the flight took off from LaGuardia Airport in New York.
Passengers on the Southwest Airlines jet reported hearing an explosion after the Boeing 737 jet with 143 customers and five crew members on board reached cruising altitude.
The company was ‘in the process of transporting customers and crew into the terminal,’ Southwest said in a statement.
‘We are in the process of gathering more information. Safety is always a top priority.’ There was no confirmation from the airline that one passenger was injured when the blown engine reportedly broke a window.
The injured passenger was partially sucked out of the plane, according to her father, quoted by local television station WACU. She was pulled back in by other passengers, the man said in a phone interview with WACU.
Passengers told US media there was panic on board the jet as it descended rapidly in the course of 10-15 minutes.
Photos posted on Twitter show people putting on oxygen masks as they prepared for the emergency landing and images of the damaged engine.
