On April 17, 2018, Holly Mackey boarded a Southwest Airlines flight from New York City to Dallas, Texas. As the plane took off, Holly noticed a pre-teen girl and Jennifer Riordan, a 43-year-old bank executive, sitting next to her. After reaching cruising altitude, the plane's left engine suddenly exploded, causing a loud popping sound, followed by a whooshing sound throughout the cabin. The explosion shattered the window of row 14, causing Jennifer to be partially sucked out of the plane.
Holly, along with the pre-teen girl, was pulled towards the window, but Holly managed to grab the girl and prevent her from being sucked out. Despite the chaos, Holly attempted to alert the flight attendants, but they were unable to hear her due to the deafening sound from the open window. The plane's captain, Tammy Jo Schultz, successfully performed an emergency landing at an airport in Philadelphia.
As the plane landed, a medical team rushed on board and took Jennifer to the hospital, but unfortunately, she died from blunt force trauma due to being forced out of the window. The incident was later attributed to a faulty engine fan blade that had failed, causing the explosion.
The story highlights Holly's traumatic experience and the heroic actions of the passengers and crew who helped save lives during the emergency.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. On April 17, 2018, a Southwest Airlines plane took off from New York City to Dallas, Texas, with 143 passengers and 5 crew members on board.
2. The plane had an open seating plan, where passengers could choose their seats on a first-come, first-served basis.
3. Holly Mackey, a 42-year-old passenger, sat in aisle seat 14C, while Jennifer Reardon, a 43-year-old bank executive and mother of two, sat in the window seat 14A.
4. During the flight, Holly felt a sense of foreboding and was anxious to use the bathroom, but was unable to do so due to turbulence and the plane's banking hard to the left.
5. At 11:04 a.m. Eastern, a loud popping sound was heard outside the plane, followed by a whooshing sound that went through the entire cabin.
6. The sound was caused by the engine underneath the left wing exploding, which broke apart and hit the side of the aircraft, shattering the window of row 14.
7. Jennifer Reardon was sucked through the window and her upper half was wedged outside the plane, while Holly held onto the girl sitting next to Jennifer.
8. The flight attendants were unaware of the situation in row 14 due to the deafening sound from the open window.
9. Two men, Andrew and Tim, volunteered to go into row 14 and pulled Jennifer back into the plane, despite the risks of being sucked out themselves.
10. A passenger, Peggy, a nurse, performed CPR on Jennifer, but unfortunately, Jennifer died from blunt force trauma due to being forced out of the window.
11. The captain, Tammy Joe Schultz, successfully performed an emergency landing at an airport in Philadelphia, where Jennifer was rushed to the hospital but did not survive.
12. Holly had initially sat in the window seat 14A but moved to the aisle seat 14C to avoid disrupting her seatmates by constantly getting up to use the bathroom.
13. Jennifer Reardon had sat in the window seat 14A after asking Holly if she could sit next to her.
14. The incident occurred 17 minutes after the popping sound was heard outside the plane.
15. The plane landed safely in Philadelphia, and the passengers were evacuated.