Southwest Airlines Pilot Makes Exceptional Emergency Landing

Pia Bergqvist

Wednesday, April 18, 2018 at 11:24 PM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Southwest Flight 1380 suffered a catastrophic engine failure mid-flight due to suspected metal fatigue, necessitating an emergency landing in Philadelphia.
The incident resulted in one fatality, the first on a U.S.-based airline since 2009, after a passenger was partially pulled out of a shattered window.
Captain Tammy Jo Shults and her copilot demonstrated exceptional calm and skill, expertly managing the emergency descent and coordinating with air traffic control to save 148 lives.
Images from the scene revealed many passengers incorrectly wore their oxygen masks, highlighting potential issues with attention to safety briefings.

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A catastrophic engine failure caused Southwest Flight 1380 to make an emergency diversion to the Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) yesterday. The Boeing 737 was on its way from New York to Dallas when the engine exploded. Robert Sumwalt, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, already announced that a fan blade sheered off of the CFM engine and that metal fatigue was suspected. A similar event happened to a Southwest flight two years ago. As a result, the engines of many Boeing 737s from multiple airlines are now undergoing additional metal fatigue inspections.