Southwest passenger injured midflight by engine shrapnel, partially sucked out of plane [UP: 1 dead]

WeAreStarStuff · Apr 17, 2018

Flying is about the only thing that gives me anxiety, and I fly quite a bit. I have a seven hour flight across the ocean coming up later this week, and this is the last thing I need to be reading. I know my fear is completely irrational, but I can't help it. I understand the statistics and everything, I just hate being in a tube miles above the ground.

ElectricBlanketFire · Apr 17, 2018

WeAreStarStuff said:
Flying is about the only thing that gives me anxiety, and I fly quite a bit. I have a seven hour flight across the ocean coming up later this week, and this is the last thing I need to be reading. I know my fear is completely irrational, but I can't help it. I understand the statistics and everything, I just hate being in a tube miles above the ground.

My trick is to watch the attendants/crew calmly go about their business.

Squirrel Killer · Apr 17, 2018

Torpedo Vegas said:
I don't remember the flight name it was the one in Lexington, KY where the copilot was the only survivor. Around 2002-2005 somewhere in there.

Looks like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comair_Flight_5191 Wild that the guy that sounds like caused the crash was the only survivor.

Edit: sorry for the repeated link, that'll teach me to wait too long between composing and clicking post.

norwegiandude86 · Apr 17, 2018

This looks like a Boeing 737 which means NTSB is on the scene with Boeing engineers allready if this is a design fault with the plane then every other 737 in the world might be affected.

A 737 takes off and lands every five minutes around the world.

MisterR · Apr 17, 2018

maximumzero said:
Because dying is worse than dying, mirite?

Anywho, a shame this is Southwest. They've exclusively the airline I've flown on in my adult lifetime as they often have the best prices and the least bullshit. Hopefully they can get their act together.

They have a good safety record, this was one event and they still safely landed the plane.

Jackpot · Apr 17, 2018

Just to correct the title, she was partially blown out the plane, not sucked. The force is a push one rather than pull.

Ty4on · Apr 17, 2018

MrKlaw said:
Twin engine? So those things can still fly with just one engine - impressive

Fly? They're not allowed certification if they can't continue a takeoff at maximum weight with an engine failure. For ETOPS certification (twin operation far from a diversion airport) you need to prove that the aircraft can fly far on one engine, like the 777 did while flying 5.5 hours on one engine.

After a lot of "lucky" uncontained engine failures it felt almost inevitable one would hit the cabin. I hope the passenger is able to recover.
Avherald linked the WN-3472 which seems very similar. I'm not familiar with the engine construction, but it seems like there a blade in the fan tore off and took the inlet with it there. The fan itself seems mostly intact in this accident too.

Jackpot said:
Just to correct the title, she was partially blown out the plane, not sucked. The force is a push one rather than pull.

That's the definition of suction. It's the high pressure of the air around us that "pushes" water up your straw, but we still say we suck water through it.

BrucCLea13k87 · Apr 17, 2018

Torpedo Vegas · Apr 17, 2018

Squirrel Killer said:
Looks like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comair_Flight_5191 Wild that the guy that sounds like caused the crash was the only survivor.

Yeah, I found it too. It was in my last post. It is a large reason why I don't mess with flying.

TheIdiot · Apr 17, 2018

ElectricBlanketFire said:
My trick is to watch the attendants/crew calmly go about their business.

Haha so true. Only time turbulence made me worry was when there was a somewhat flustered pilot announcement warning us and the flight attendants walked briskly to their seats and closed the curtain. When I saw that I knew shit was going down. The turbulence was so bad that I had the same pit in my stomach as when an amusement park ride goes up and down. My palms were sweaty as hell and some people were actually yelling and crying out with every movement. The overhead compartments were shaking violently. It was kind of like that scene from Louis in season one.

M1chl · Apr 17, 2018

Well at least still not bad as this:

https://m.theepochtimes.com/uplift/pilot-sucked-out-of-cockpit-window-survives_2304494.html

Sorry late to the "party" : (

WeAreStarStuff · Apr 17, 2018

TheIdiot said:
Haha so true. Only time turbulence made me worry was when there was a somewhat flustered pilot announcement warning us and the flight attendants walked briskly to their seats and closed the curtain. When I saw that I knew shit was going down. The turbulence was so bad that I had the same pit in my stomach as when an amusement park ride goes up and down. My palms were sweaty as hell and some people were actually yelling and crying out with every movement. The overhead compartments were shaking violently. It was kind of like that scene from Louis in season one.

Two years ago when my fiancee and I were flying back into the country after getting engaged abroad we had to land through a terrible storm. It was pitch black outside of the windows, the plane was shaking violently, and I was like goddman, well at least I won't die alone :/

The funny thing is when I was a kid I loved turbulence. I didn't start fearing flying until I was a late teen.

The_Inquisitor · Apr 17, 2018

marrec said:
Ya we're probably talking to different types of customers. In our industry an ISO and M1001 cert are usually enough to move things along. We obviously still keep quality statistics for internal review and specific customers, but usually when I'm at the bar at a conference the last thing they want to talk about is DPPM.

I do a lot of automotive and HIREL. In some cases we test our devices EIGHT times before shipping to the customer at various temperatures (-55C to 150C). They are pretty strict on us.

Titik · Apr 17, 2018

I was just talking to my Theraphist about my irrational fear of flying since either fly alot. This... isn't helping with that.

NihonTiger · Apr 17, 2018

M1chl said:
Well at least still not bad as this:

https://m.theepochtimes.com/uplift/pilot-sucked-out-of-cockpit-window-survives_2304494.html

Sorry late to the "party" : (

I think that photo is from a TV show (it doesn't match up with the incident report) but what's amazing is the pilot went back to flying about a year later.

Dan · Apr 17, 2018

norwegiandude86 said:
This looks like a Boeing 737 which means NTSB is on the scene with Boeing engineers allready if this is a design fault with the plane then every other 737 in the world might be affected.

A 737 takes off and lands every five minutes around the world.

It's less to do with Boeing and more to do with the CFM engines, I suspect.

Phoenix RISING · Apr 17, 2018

Reports coming in that the pilot is a woman. Pretty cool.

Jpop · Apr 17, 2018

This is terrifying

WhySoDevious · Apr 17, 2018

Always a good idea to keep your seat belts on at all time... not just when the light goes on.

You never know...

giancarlo123x · Apr 17, 2018

Fuck that sounds awful

RedStep · Apr 17, 2018

CNBC is saying one is dead, doesn't confirm if it's the same person.

The_Inquisitor · Apr 17, 2018

RedStep said:
CNBC is saying one is dead, doesn't confirm if it's the same person.

Damn,
RIP.

FriskyCanuck · Apr 17, 2018

Did anyone actually watch the NTSB press briefing? Was that where the confirmed fatality came from? Anyway, it seems that the investigators are now on a plane to Philadelphia.

RIP to the victim.

marrec · Apr 17, 2018

FriskyCanuck said:
Did anyone actually watch the NTSB press briefing? Was that where the confirmed fatality came from? Anyway, it seems that the investigators are now on a plane to Philadelphia.

RIP to the victim.

Oh shit!

Noroi_Kisaragi · Apr 17, 2018

WTF. DEAD?

this has to be the girl that was partially blown out the window, right?

title needs an update, this is huge.

Vincent Alexander · Apr 17, 2018

Damn....that is a shame. RIP.

Quixzlizx · Apr 17, 2018

Torpedo Vegas said:
This is why I drive every where.

Nobody ever dies in a car.

Jmdajr · Apr 17, 2018

Holy crap someone died.

WeAreStarStuff · Apr 17, 2018

Damn someone died. Terrible.

FantasticMrFoxdie · Apr 17, 2018

RIP.

and holy crap those engine pics are terrifying. this could have ended much worse

Poutine · Apr 17, 2018

That's straight up Final Destination shit.

RIP.

jstevenson · Apr 17, 2018

Really curious as to cause of death here.

The physics of this shouldn't allow anyone to really be "sucked out". The plane depressuriZation is basically instant. Now the external airspeed could mean that part of the passengers body could've been immediately outside, head or arm or whatever, causing serious injury. (Imagine sticking your hand outside your car window at that speed, etc). But assuming the passenger was seatbelted, I don't think they could've been actually pulled out. You also could understand the terror of the situation causing a heart attack or something too as well as the possibility for injury given the violent damage to the window

If you know these engines, they are incredibly reliable and they know when they will fail based on the data from them. This is a catastrophic failure for the titanium casing to not hold the shrapnel. Very curious what happened there too.

That said, the airframe itself should've never been in jeopardy from it. The 737 can land no problem on one engine, the oxygen masks did their job while the plane descended to safe Altitude.

PeakPointMatrix · Apr 17, 2018

Fuck :(

Landy828 · Apr 17, 2018

Hate it if it is the girl...I think her dad was on the flight with her.

Trouble · Apr 17, 2018

Damn, RIP.

Tappin Brews · Apr 17, 2018

Holy cow. Hopefully a relativesly easy way to go :(

i cant imagine the scene as another passenger.... nightmare fuel for sure

Dennis8K · Apr 17, 2018

No window seat next to the engines, pls.

No Southwest.

Z-Beat · Apr 17, 2018

Poutine said:
That's straight up Final Destination shit.

RIP.

That plane crash premonition used to scare the crap out of me. An entire section of the plane came off and sucked several people out before the cabin straight up blasted everyone in the face with fire and then exploded.

I've always worried about how durable those windows are and if there were any safety precautions in place should the window next to you break or if you just had to hope the person sitting next to you could pull you back in.

Alucrid · Apr 17, 2018

jstevenson said:
Really curious as to cause of death here.

The physics of this shouldn't allow anyone to really be "sucked out". The plane depressuriZation is basically instant. Now the external airspeed could mean that part of the passengers body could've been immediately outside, head or arm or whatever, causing serious injury. (Imagine sticking your hand outside your car window at that speed, etc). But assuming the passenger was seatbelted, I don't think they could've been actually pulled out. You also could understand the terror of the situation causing a heart attack or something too as well as the possibility for injury given the violent damage to the window

If you know these engines, they are incredibly reliable and they know when they will fail based on the data from them. This is a catastrophic failure for the titanium casing to not hold the shrapnel. Very curious what happened there too.

That said, the airframe itself should've never been in jeopardy from it. The 737 can land no problem on one engine, the oxygen masks did their job while the plane descended to safe Altitude.

cnbc said shrapnel from a piece of the engine hitting and blowing out the window led to the death

Dennis8K said:
No window seat next to the engines, pls.

No Southwest.

they said the victim was a few rows behind the engine

JetBlackPanda · Apr 17, 2018

I am flying to Texas in a few weeks. I should move my window seat to an isle right?

My condolences to the family. Horrible.

Dennis8K · Apr 17, 2018

Also, keeping the seatbelt fastened from now on.

SpottieO · Apr 17, 2018

JetBlackPanda said:
I am flying to Texas in a few weeks. I should move my window seat to an isle right?

My condolences to the family. Horrible.

This is a freak accident but if that makes you more comfortable then you should do it.

jstevenson · Apr 17, 2018

Alucrid said:
cnbc said shrapnel from a piece of the engine hitting and blowing out the window led to the death

That is not cause of death. That is cause of the accident.

Chae3001 · Apr 17, 2018

Wow, what a nightmare for the family of the victim. Random, unexpected shit like this is so awful. RIP.

The situation is just so horrible for everyone involved, including the fellow passengers. Being in the cabin for something like this would traumatize me for life. I can almost imagine how the victim's seat mate will feel about flying for the rest of their lives.

FriskyCanuck · Apr 17, 2018

jstevenson said:
That is not cause of death. That is cause of the accident.

We don't know what caused the uncontained engine failure, we just know the outcome.

Aeriscloud · Apr 17, 2018

"According to one witness a passenger suffered a heart attack but that hasn't been confirmed"

Saw that reported on several sites earlier including on the facebook page of the guy that has a couple of the videos from inside the plane.

El_TigroX · Apr 17, 2018

Dennis8K said:
Also, keeping the seatbelt fastened from now on.

You really always should. Even if the pilot's telling you it's smooth sailing, when you are in your seat, there's no reason not to. Anything can happen up there... and that's not me being a fear monger... just been on too many flights where people got fucked up because of minor turbulence.

Chris1215 · Apr 17, 2018

jstevenson said:
That is not cause of death. That is cause of the accident.

Right and I read that someone had a heart attack on the plane. I'm wondering if that's the person that died

Spikematic · Apr 17, 2018

This is such sad and horrible news. People who are already anxious about flying will probably freak even more after hearing the details of this freak incident. Ugh, just terrible all around...

marrec · Apr 17, 2018

This is the first US Aviation Accident death in like, 7 years isn't it?

Southwest passenger injured midflight by engine shrapnel, partially sucked out of plane [UP: 1 dead]

What year is this?

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