By Simon Hradecky, created Tuesday, Apr 17th 2018 17:19Z, last updated Tuesday, Nov 20th 2018 12:06Z A Southwest Boeing 737-700, registration N772SW performing flight WN-1380 from New York La Guardia,NY to Dallas Love,TX (USA) with 143 passengers and 5 crew, was climbing through FL320 out of New York when the left hand engine (CFM56) was damaged causing inlet and parts of the cowl to separate from the airframe, debris impacted the side of the fuselage shattering a passenger window causing the loss of cabin pressure. The crew donned their oxygen masks, reported they had an engine failure and engine fire and were to initiate an emergency descent, shut the engine down and diverted to Philadelphia,PA (USA). The crew requested a 20nm final, reported part of the aircraft was missing, they needed to slow down, they did have an engine fire indication, the crew requested medical services to meet the aircraft, they had injured passengers. ATC understood a passenger might have been sucked out of the aircraft but stopped that discussion "we'll work it out" once the aircraft was on the ground. ATC cleared the flight down to 3000 feet, airspeed on pilot's discretion and instructed the crew to report as soon as they wanted to turn base. While the aircraft was on short final tower advised emergency services there was a hole in the aircraft's side. The aircraft landed safely on runway 27L, vacated the runway and stopped on the adjacent taxiway. The crew advised emergency services their left hand side was damaged, they had injuries inside the cabin. Emergency services foamed the left hand engine, the passengers disembarked via stairs onto the taxiway and were taken to the terminal. One passenger was taken to a hospital with serious injuries. The NTSB later reported one passenger has died (presumably the one taken to the hospital).



Passengers reported a woman was nearly sucked out of the aircraft and was pulled back into the cabin by fellow passengers.



Philadelphia emergency services reported one of the passengers was taken to a hospital with serious injuries in critical condition, 7 other passengers were treated at the airport for minor injuries, none of them was taken to a hospital.



The NTSB reported they have dispatched a go team on site and opened an investigation.



In a press briefing the NTSB reported one passenger has died without providing further detail. As of current the occurrence is treated as an engine failure, it might subsequently be rated an uncontained engine failure depending on investigation results.



The airline stated they are deeply saddened to confirm there is one fatality resulting from this accident, the entire Southwest Family is devastated. "This is a sad day and our hearts go out to the family and the loved ones of the deceased customer", the chairman said. This has been the first inflight fatality ever on a Southwest Airlines Aircraft.



In a second media briefing in the late evening the NTSB reported one fan blade, #13 of 24, was broken right at the hub and had separated, the preliminary examination revealed there is evidence of metal fatigue right where the blade separated. There had been no engine fire, there is no evidence of an engine fire, however, it is known there was an engine fire warning, it is possible and even likely the fire wire activated when the fan blade separated. The Captain was a female, the first officer a male, they did an excellent job. The crew elected to land with the flaps at 5 degrees over controllability concerns. A piece of the engine cowling was found on the ground about 60nm northwest of Philadelphia.



On Apr 18th 2018 the FAA reported: "aircraft experienced engine failure and made emergency descent, Philadelphia PA" stating one passenger died as result of the occurrence, the aircraft sustained substantial damage. The FAA rated the occurrence an accident.



On Apr 18th 2018 in their third media briefing the NTSB reported first data are available from the flight data recorder. The left hand engine parameters ran down to 0, the vibrations increased signficantly, the cabin altitude alert sounded shortly afterwards, the aircraft made an uncommanded rapid roll to a left bank angle of 41 degrees. The crew decided to use flaps at 5 degrees and landed at 165 KIAS about 22 minutes after the left hand engine failed. The FAA was able to see some debris falling off the aircraft on their radar screens, computed the approximate location taking winds into the account, today additional pieces of engine cowling were found as result. The cockpit voice recorder is going to be read out in the coming days. The NTSB established pieces of cowling impacted the leading edge of the wing. The fatally injured passenger was seated in row 14, the window area is being looked at to determine how the window became shattered. Interviews with flight attendants and flight crew are ongoing. This was the last on scene media briefing. The NTSB has not yet been able to determine whether the fan blades of this particular engine were subject to an Airworthiness Directive a few years ago. The crew sounded very calm and assuring, the hat is off to them. The NTSB does have the root part of the fan blade. The fan blade cracked right at the entry into the hub and also fractured about half way. The initiating event looks like to be the crack at th hub where fatigue occurred.



On May 3rd 2018 the NTSB released an investigation update reporting that parts of the engine inlet and cowling struck the wing and the fuselage causing a "rapid depressurization of the cabin after the loss of one of the passenger windows". The NTSB wrote: "Initial examination of the airplane revealed that the majority of the inlet cowl was missing, including the entire outer barrel, the aft bulkhead, and the inner barrel forward of the containment ring. The inlet cowl containment ring was intact but exhibited numerous impact witness marks. Examination of the fan case revealed no through-hole fragment exit penetrations; however, it did exhibit a breach hole that corresponded to one of the fan blade impact marks and fan case tearing." Two pieces of fan blade #13, that had separated, were recovered in addition to the dovetail that had remained at the fan disk. Laboratory examination revealed 6 cracks had developed originating from different points at the convex side. None of the other fan blades showed any crack. All fan blades had accumulated more than 32,000 engine cycles since new, maintenace records show the blades were lubricated as required. In addition, the fan blades had been overhauled 10,712 engine cycles before the accident in November 2012. Since that overhaul the dovetails were visually inspected six times during fan blade lubrication. With respect to the passenger partially pulled out of the cracked window the NTSB wrote: "Three flight attendants were assigned to the flight, and an additional SWA employee was in a jumpseat in the cabin. During interviews, the flight attendants and the employee reported that they heard a loud sound and experienced vibration. The oxygen masks automatically deployed in the cabin. The flight attendants retrieved portable oxygen bottles and began moving through the cabin to calm passengers and assist them with their masks. As they moved toward the mid-cabin, they found the passenger in row 14 partially out of the window and attempted to pull her into the cabin. Two male passengers helped and were able to bring the passenger in." The NTSB stated: "A large gouge impact mark, consistent in shape to a recovered portion of fan cowl and latching mechanism, was adjacent to the row 14 window (see figure 4; the window was entirely missing. No window, airplane structure, or engine material was found inside the cabin." (See photo below)



On Jul 25th 2018 the NTSB revealed in a press release announcing a hearing into this and related engine failures on Nov 14th 2018: " During climb out following departure from New York’s LaGuardia Airport April 17, 2018, the engine experienced a failure of a fan blade which resulted in the loss of the inlet and cowling. Almost the entire inner and outer barrels of the inlet cowl were missing as were the forward and aft inlet bulkheads." (see photo below)



On Nov 20th 2018 the NTSB released their investigation docket including the cockpit voice recorder transcript and the factual report by the operations group providing the flight's history as:



The crew had arrived at Nashville International Airport (BNA), Nashville, Tennessee, the night before the accident (Monday), and had ended their duty day at 2017 CDT5 after completing a block time6 of 7 hours and 53 minutes, and a total duty time7 of 12 hours and 28 minutes. The following morning, (the day of the accident) they reported to BNA at 0600 CDT for their first flight to LGA. The flight to LGA was uneventful. The accident flight was the second flight of the day for the crew and was planned to go from LGA to DAL. There were 144 passengers, two flightdeck crewmembers and three cabin crewmembers aboard. The passenger count included one Southwest Airlines ramp employee who was seated on a flight attendant jumpseat. The accident flight had an on-time departure from LGA at 1030. The first officer (FO) was the pilot-flying (PF).



The crew stated nothing unusual occurred during the taxi, takeoff, and climb to their cleared cruising altitude of FL380. At 1103, and about 40.444° north latitude, 76.235° west longitude8, and shortly after passing through FL320, the crew noted a loud bang, significant aircraft vibration, and aircraft yaw and bank to the left. The CABIN ALTITUDE warning light and horn (indicating cabin altitude of more than 10,000 ft) were activated almost immediately after the onset of the vibration.



The crew donned their oxygen masks. The PF rolled the airplane back to wings-level and began an emergency descent. About one minute later, the aircraft was descending through FL307. At 1104, the air traffic controller in communication with the flight (unaware of the situation) issued a clearance direct to VINSE waypoint. The controller reported hearing a response that contained only static. He also stated he heard an alarm in the background. In the crew interviews, (Attachment 1) they reported some initial confusion about the position of one of the switches which allowed the crew to communicate through a microphone in the oxygen masks. By 1105, the communication issue had been resolved, and the crew reported an engine fire to the controller, and that they were descending.9 They asked for vectors to the nearest airport. The controller responded with Harrisburg International Airport (MDT), Middletown, Pennsylvania, and issued a heading of 250 degrees to that airport. The crew then requested a destination of PHL. At 1106, after coordination with another controller, the controller in contact with the flight cleared the flight to fly direct to PHL.



Shortly after the descent was begun, the captain, per Southwest Airlines requirement, took the airplane’s controls to become the PF, and the FO assumed the duties of pilot monitoring (PM.)10 He then began executing the Engine Fire or Engine Severe Damage or Separation checklist from the Southwest Airlines B737NG Quick Reference Handbook (QRH.)



The crew reported they accomplished the non-normal Engine Fire or Engine Severe Damage or Separation checklist. The pilots stated during their respective interviews they were very busy controlling the plane and assessing the damage and they did not execute two other appropriate non-normal checklist, Cabin Altitude Warning or Rapid Depressurization (indicated by the CABIN ALTITUDE warning light and horn), or Emergency Descent (required by step 5 of the Cabin Altitude Warning or Rapid Depressurization checklist.) The other checklist they stated they accomplished was the Before Landing checklist. The three non-normal checklists mentioned above are shown and discussed in section 7.2.



According to the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) transcript, about 11 minutes after the engine failure, the FO attempted to call the cabin to speak to the flight attendants. The FO stated in his interview there was no reply to his call. In separate interviews11, a flight attendant stated she heard the interphone chime, but when she answered it, she could not hear anything. She stated it was too loud in the cabin. A few seconds later, another flight attendant was successful in reaching the flightdeck on the interphone. The CVR transcript confirms that shortly after the FO reported no reply to his first call, a chime was heard on the flightdeck, and the FO began speaking with one of the flight attendants. This was the first communication between the flightdeck and the cabin and was when the flightdeck crew first learned of the situation in the cabin, including an injured passenger.



According to information from the Flight Data Recorder, from the time of the event until reaching about 17,000 feet msl, the airplane maintained an airspeed between 280 and 300 knots. As the descent continued, the airplane gradually slowed, reaching an airspeed of about 185 knots two minutes before landing. The airplane maintained this speed through the approach until touchdown. The flight conducted a visual approach to runway 27L at PHL and landed without further incident 17 minutes after the engine failure.



The captain stated in the interview that she initially flew slower than the recommended speed for emergency descent to reduce the severity of the airframe vibration. The captain also stated she flew the final segment of the approach at a higher-than-normal airspeed of 180 knots because she was concerned about controllability problems and did not want to get too slow. The recommended landing flap configuration from the Aircraft Operating Manual for a single engine landing was flaps 15. The captain said she chose to land with flaps 5 to avoid getting too slow and because of the airplane’s sluggish handling. The aircraft operating manual does not list recommended reference speeds for landing with flaps 5, so the captain decided to use the speed for flaps 15 and add 20 knots. She obtained the speed for flaps 15 landing from the referring to the approach reference page on the Flight Management Computer, then added 20 knots (to account for the flap 5 vs flaps 15 setting.) She stated this came to 180 knots.



The captain (56, ATPL, 11,715 hours total, 10,513 hours on type) was initially pilot monitoring, following the engine failure assumed the role as pilot flying. The first officer (44, CPL, 9,508 hours total, 6,927 hours on type) was initially pilot flying and assumed the role as pilot monitoring following the engine failure.



A similiar occurrence had happened in 2016, see Accident: Southwest B737 near Pensacola on Aug 27th 2016, uncontained engine failure.



EASA had released Airworthiness Directive 2018-0071 dated Mar 26th 2018 and effective Apr 2nd 2018 reasoning: "An occurrence was reported of fan blade failure on a CFM56-7B engine. The released fan blade was initially contained by the engine case, but there was subsequent uncontained forward release of debris and separation of the inlet cowl. Preliminary investigation determined that the fracture in the blade initiated from the fan blade dovetail. This condition, if not detected and corrected, could lead to fan blade failure, possibly resulting in uncontained forward release of debris, with consequent damage to the engine and the aeroplane." The AD requires an ultrasonic inspection of each affected fan blade within 9 months of the AD becoming effective.



The FAA had released an AD 2010-12-03 for CFM56-3 and CFM56-3B engines not applicable to this aircraft which features CFM56-7B engines. The FAA AD and EAD register shows no other airworthiness directives concerning fan blades of CFM56 engines.



Late Apr 20th 2018 the FAA released an Emergency Airwortihiness Directive (EAD) 2018-09-51 to address the fan blade issue, see News: FAA issues Emergency AD on CFM56-7B engines.



https://flightaware.com/live/flight/SWA1380/history/20180417/1430Z/KLGA/KDAL



Walk around including various views of the engine (Updated Video: NTSB):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TA8VWF2O8k



Second Media Briefing with first FDR results (Video: NTSB):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EL5eMVGz5gk



Media Briefing (Video: NTSB):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxNS8H63oAc



Photo/Graphics of engine released in press release (Photo: NTSB):





Fan cowl part and impact marks at missing window row 14 (Photo: NTSB):





Pieces of engine cowl found near Philadelphia (Photo: NTSB):





The fan of the left hand engine, one fan blade missing (Photo: NTSB):





The shattered passenger window (Photo: Matt Tranchin):





The damaged engine (Photo: Matt Tranchin):





The aircraft seen from the ground, the winglet obscures the shattered window:





The aircraft seen from the ground: </s> A preliminary investigation into the exploded jet engine from this week's disastrous Southwest Airlines flight has revealed signs of "metal fatigue" that could have caused the incident.

The plane was flying from New York to Dallas when the engine explosion forced it into an emergency landing on Tuesday.

Shrapnel from the engine smashed a window and almost sucked out passenger Jennifer Riordan, who tragically died after the event.

Now, the US National Transport Safety Board has examined the blown engine of the Boeing 737.

According to chairman Robert Sumwalt, the engine's fan blades were separated and missing. The blade was separated at the point where it would come into the hub and there was evidence of "metal fatigue".

Metal fatigue occurs when prolonged stress is put on the material and can be exacerbated through structural damage caused by accumulated small cracks.

The examination of the engines will continue and officials believe the full investigation into what happened could take between 12 and 15 months.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has said it will order inspection of about 220 aircraft engines as a result of the findings.

The regulator said late on Wednesday it plans to finalize the air-worthiness directive within the next two weeks. The order, which it initially proposed in August following an incident in 2016, will require ultrasonic inspection within the next six months of the fan blades on all CFM56-7B engines that have accrued a certain number of takeoffs.

Airlines said that because fan blades may have been repaired and moved to other engines, the order would affect far more than 220 of the CFM56-7Bs, which are made by a partnership of France's Safran and General Electric.

The CFM56 engine on Southwest flight 1380 blew apart over Pennsylvania on Tuesday, about 20 minutes after the Dallas-bound flight left New York's LaGuardia Airport with 149 passengers aboard.

Southwest has said it will inspect all similar engines in its fleet over the next 30 days.

Meanwhile, tributes continue to pour in for Jennifer Riordan, 43, who died following the event.

The mum-of-two's cause of death was confirmed as blunt impact trauma to her head, neck and torso.

Spokesman James Garrow of the Philadelphia Department of Public Health said Mrs Riordan's death was ruled accidental.

Seven additional passengers were treated for minor injuries. </s> Last week, Southwest Airlines Flight 1380 operated by Boeing B737-700 aircraft suffered engine failure, which led to eventual death of one passenger.

One of the two engines of the aircraft was damaged airborne, while traveling from New York to Dallas with 144 passengers and five crew onboard.

The pilot of the flight declared emergency landing and took the airplane to rapid descent and landed successfully in Philadelphia.

 According to CNN, as passengers prayed and pondered their last words to loved ones, the pilot in command of the flight, Captain Tammie Jo Shults and First Officer Darren Ellisor had the duty of landing the big injured aircraft safely.

One of the passengers, Jennifer Riordan who was almost sucked out of the airplane after she was fatally injured was pulled back by passengers into the plane but she died in the hospital after the aircraft landed safely. It was the first fatal accident involving a US-based passenger airline since 2009, NTSB said.

After the accident, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) started investigation into the aircraft engine. According to reports, in preliminary briefings, NTSB Chairman, Robert Sumwalt said that inspection of the damaged engine revealed that one of the titanium blades on the big fan had broken off at the root, and that there was evidence of metal fatigue at the site where it broke. He said metal fatigue is a major problem.

Investigations also suggested that the engine, which was built by CPM, might have had that challenge because “the shrapnel damage to the plane’s fuselage and photos of the damage suggest this was a dangerous “uncontained engine failure.” Such incidents occur about three or four times a year worldwide, according to the NTSB.

After the accident, signals were sent all over the world for the inspection of the engine type, which is CFM 56-7B, which is fitted in most of Boeing B737-700 New Generation aircraft series.

On Monday, FAA and European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued emergency airworthiness directives requiring operators to inspect fan blades on older CFM56-7B engines within 20 days, airwise.com reported.

The directives applied to CFM International engines of the type that was fitted to the Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700.

 Initial NTSB inspections of the Southwest engine showed a fan blade had detached and there was evidence of metal fatigue in the fractured blade.

Engines with over 30,000 total cycles must complete the inspections within 20 days, the FAA said. The CFM engines subject to the emergency directives number 681 worldwide and 352 in the US.

 In Nigeria, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) received FAA directive to review the aircraft the same type of aircraft engines fitted on aircraft being operated in Nigeria.

The Director General of NCAA, Captain Muhtar Usman told THISDAY that the agency was reviewing the aircraft being operated by Nigerian airlines to identify those that may have the engine type.

THISDAY investigations disclosed that Arik Air is the only airline that has Boeing B737-700 and has seven of the aircraft type in its fleet. But inside sources revealed that the engines are relatively newer than the ones being investigated and they neither were near 20 years old nor recorded 30,000 total cycles.

Captain Usman said after the review, if any aircraft engine was affected the NCAA would take appropriate action, dismissing insinuations that some of the aircraft in Air Peace fleet may also have such engine types.

 Spokesman of Air Peace, Chris Iwarah said the airline has Boeing 737-300 and 737-500 aircraft, “which had been credited with perfect engine performance”, in its fleet.

The B737-300 and B737-500 aircraft are fitted with a CFM56-3C engine,” he said.

 The airline said besides contracting one of the best aircraft maintenance companies in the world, BCT Aviation, to do routine maintenance of its fleet on ground its base in Lagos, it was spending huge foreign exchange to maintain its aircraft in some of the best facilities in the world to ensure that the safety of the flying public was not compromised.

“The FAA directive to airlines which operate aircraft with the same engine with the US carrier to perform ultrasonic inspection on the engines installed on NG B737-700 does not extend to engines installed on the classic aircraft, which we have in our fleet. Besides, our aircraft are maintained in accordance with the approved maintenance programme and manufacturer maintenance document,” Air Peace said.

 NTSB said there is need to check the engine type because similar incident happened in 2016, although there was no loss of lives, but the plane made an emergency landing in Pensacola, Florida. The FAA responded 10 months later with a recommendation that airlines use ultrasound to inspect their engine fan blades. Though most airlines have complied with that counsel, the agency thought the matter significantly urgent that it has begun the laborious federal process to mandate that every airline carry out the inspections.

 By the time FAA concludes its findings on the engine type, it may likely direct that such engines should be suspended from use and this would cost airlines huge resources replacing the engines. Meanwhile, southwest Airlines flights are disrupted due to the ongoing findings. </s> One passenger died after a Southwest Airlines flight suffered a serious engine blowout en route to Dallas from New York's La Guardia airport, reports said. The Boeing 737-700 was forced to make an emergency landing in Philadelphia following the major engine failure. Seven passengers were reportedly injured in the accident.

The explosion happened when the Southwest Flight 1380 was flying at about 30,000 feet. The flight's left engine exploded with such force that it pierced the fuselage (main body of the aircraft) with a shrapnel and led to breaking a window in the passenger cabin.

The deceased female passenger has been identified as Jennifer Riordan, 43, mother of two. She was the vice president of community relations at Wells Fargo in Albuquerque.

Following the mishap, Southwest Airlines issued a statement, saying: "We are aware that Southwest flight #1380 from New York La Guardia (LGA) to Dallas Love Field (DAL) has diverted to Philadelphia International Airport (PHL). We are in the process of transporting Customers and Crew into the terminal. The aircraft, a Boeing 737-700, has 143 Customers and five Crewmembers onboard. We are in the process of gathering more information. Safety is always our top priority at Southwest Airlines, and we are working diligently to support our Customers and Crews at this time."

While describing the incident, one passenger named Marty Martinez told CBSN, "There was blood everywhere. Everybody was crying and upset. You had a few passengers that were very strong and they kept yelling to people, you know, 'It's OK, we're going to do this.'"

Martinez also had the access to WiFi. Hence he started doing a Facebook Live and also posted a couple of pictures of the flight's condition.

"It was the most terrifying experience," Martinez told CBSN. "I mean, to think that as I'm going down and people are jumping in my live feed and I'm like 'the plane's going down' and I'm just thinking that at any moment now my internet could cut out and that would be that's it."

Another passenger Amanda Bourman told CBSN, "I just remember holding my husband's hand, and we just prayed and prayed and prayed. And the thoughts that were going through my head, of course, were about my daughters, just wanting to see them again and give them a big hug so they wouldn't grow up without parents."

Some other flight passengers also took to social media to share some footage and details about the incident.

Southwest CEO Cary C. Kelly reportedly said that the airline will soon start an thorough inspection. </s> • One passenger has died as a result.
• Shares of the airline fell to session lows on the news, and are now down 1.9%.

Shares of Southwest Airlines are sliding late Tuesday after the National Transporation Safety Board chairman Robert Sumwalt announced at a press conference that one person died as a result of the uncontained engine failure on flight 1380 from LaGuardia Airport in New York to Love Field in Dallas.

The failure, which caused the front of the engine to disintegrate, sprayed shrapnel that penetrated the cabin of the Boeing 737-700, causing the jet to depressurize.

According to Philadelphia fire commissioner Adam Thiel, seven other passengers were treated for minor injuries.

Tuesday's sell-off has Southwest shares flirting with their lowest close since November. They would need to close below $53.50 in order to do so.

Southwest Airlines is down 16.7% this year. </s> Aero-engine maker CFM International said airlines are “aggressively responding” to safety regulator directives to inspect CFM56-7B engines, the type that exploded on a Southwest Airlines aircraft last week, causing one fatality.

Last Friday’s emergency airworthiness directives from the US Federal Aviation Administration and European Aviation Safety Agency require ultrasonic inspections on CFM56-7B engine blades with more than 30,000 cycles since new. A cycle comprises start up, take-off, landing and shut down.

CFM said more than 60 percent of the 680 engines worldwide that are subject to the directives have been inspected. The remaining inspections must be completed by May 10.

The company is also recommending that operators inspect fan blades with more than 20,000 cycles by the end of August, and inspections of all other fan blades should be carried out when they reach 20,000 cycles.

CFM says there are around 14,000 CFM56-7B engines in operation around the world.

Southwest Airlines flight WN1380, a Boeing 737-700 carrying 143 passengers and five crew, was on a flight from New York’s La Guardia airport to Dallas Love Field when the left engine exploded, sending parts into the aircraft, causing cabin depressurisation.

One passenger died after she was partially sucked out of the cabin as it depressurised. Passengers were able to grab the woman and pull her back into the cabin, but she died of her injuries. </s> Two people aboard a Learjet were killed when the aircraft crashed Monday afternoon near Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, Carlstadt Mayor Craig Lahullier said

Initially, Carlstadt Police said the pilot and co-pilot had died but hours later authorities said they couldn’t immediately confirm their deaths.

Authorities said information on the two people on board will be provided by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.

The Learjet 35 crashed around 3:30 p.m. about a quarter-mile from the airport in Bergen County as it approached a runway, the FAA said.

There were no injuries on the ground, police said.

The flight departed from Philadelphia International Airport, according to the FAA.

Carlstadt Police Deputy Chief Thomas Berta said the FAA wrapped up its work at the scene late Monday. The agency will work with the NTSB, which is investigating, according to Berta.

Earlier, police said authorities arrived at the crash scene to find that fire had engulfed two industrial buildings near a Carlstadt Department of Public Works building.

The last employee left the building about 15 minutes before the crash and locked the gate, Lahullier said.

“When we got there, in the middle of the fire … our gate was still locked, which gave us a good indication that he had already left the building,” the mayor said.

He added: “It’s a miracle. We were all out of there at that time.”

Video from the crash showed smoke billowing in the air.

“You could see parts of the engine,” he said. “They moved everybody else back because they started finding more parts of the airplane over by some of the other warehouse areas.”

The aircraft, which was built in 1981, is owned by A&C Big Sky Aviation LLC in Billings, Montana, according to FAA records. The company couldn’t be immediately reached.

The crash is the 53rd fatal Learjet 35 accident since 1977, according to the Aviation Safety Network.

Teterboro Airport is 12 miles from midtown Manhattan. It handles general aviation and charter flights, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

It is the oldest operating airport in the New York and New Jersey metropolitan area, according to the airport’s website. </s> TEXAS (REUTERS) - Ten people were killed on Sunday (June 30) when their private turboprop airplane crashed into a hangar during takeoff and burst into flames at the municipal airport in Addison, Texas, outside Dallas, an airport official said.

The twin-engine Beechcraft BE-350 King Air was destroyed by fire from the crash, according to Ms Darci Neuzil, deputy director of Addison Airport, a general aviation facility located about 17 km north of downtown Dallas.

She said the plane had been headed for Florida when it took off at about 9am local time. Nobody on the ground was reported hurt, Ms Neuzil added.

The plane had just lifted off the runway at the south end of the airport when it veered left, dropped its left wing and slammed into the hangar, the Dallas Morning News reported online, citing Addison fire department spokesman Edward Martelle.

There were no survivors among the 10 people who were aboard the aircraft, Ms Neuzil said. Their identities were being kept confidential as authorities worked to notify next of kin.

"It's a very sad day for Dallas County," a local judge, Clay Jenkins, told the Dallas Morning News, which reported the plane had been en route to St. Petersburg, Florida. "My prayers are with the families we're notifying about this tragedy."

There was no official word on the cause of the crash. CBS News, citing unnamed sources, reported that the plane lost an engine on takeoff.

Video footage of the immediate aftermath showed flames and heavy, dark smoke billowing from the hangar, which according to local media was unoccupied at the time. Still photos posted online also showed a large gash in the side of the building.

Investigators from the US National Transportation Safety Board were due to arrive on the scene later in the day, Ms Neuzil told Reuters.

No further details about the circumstances of the crash were immediately available, Ms Neuzil said. </s> Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Jennifer Riordan died after being partially sucked out of the window

A woman who was partially sucked out of a window of a US passenger plane after an engine exploded in mid-air has died.

Southwest Airlines Flight 1380 made an emergency landing in Philadelphia after a window, wings and fuselage were damaged. Seven passengers were injured.

Initial findings say an engine fan blade was missing. In a recording, one of the pilots can be heard saying "there is a hole and someone went out".

The last passenger death on a US commercial flight was in 2009.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Video shows exploded plane engine

The Boeing 737-700 had been en route from New York's La Guardia airport to Dallas, Texas, with 143 passengers and five crew when the incident happened.

Witnesses say an engine on the plane's left side blew, smashing a window and causing cabin depressurisation that nearly sucked the woman out of the aircraft.

She was pulled back in by other passengers.

Image copyright United Way of Central New Mexico Image caption Jennifer Riordan was a mother-of-two and bank vice-president

The plane made a safe landing at 11:20 (15:20 GMT), fire officials said.

The victim was Jennifer Riordan, a mother-of-two and bank vice-president at Wells Fargo in Albuquerque, New Mexico, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

In the air traffic control recording released by NBC News, pilot Tammie Jo Shults is heard saying: "We have a part of the aircraft missing, so we're going to need to slow down a bit."

Asked if the plane is on fire, she says it is not but adds: "They said there is a hole and someone went out."

Image copyright Twitter/ @mtranchin Image caption Passenger images shows a broken window and oxygen masks deployed

The former Navy pilot was at the controls when the plane landed.

The US Federal Aviation Administration has opened an investigation.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said a preliminary investigation had revealed that an engine fan blade was missing and there was evidence of metal fatigue at the point where it had apparently broken off.

NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt said part of the cowling - the engine's covering - was found in Bernville, Pennsylvania, about 70 miles (112km) from Philadelphia.

"It is very unusual so we are taking this event extremely seriously," he said, adding that the investigation could take 12 to 15 months.

Mr Sumwalt told reporters the type of engine, a CFM56, is "very widely used in commercial transport".

Southwest Airlines said it was accelerating its inspection programme for CFM56 engines "out of an abundance of caution" and said inspections should be completed over the next 30 days.

In a statement, Southwest said it was "devastated" and extended sympathy to all those affected by the "tragic event".

The Philadelphia Fire Department said one passenger had been taken to hospital in a critical condition while seven other people were treated for minor injuries at the scene.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption NTSB investigators say a fan blade apparently broke off in the engine

Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel told a news conference that passengers and crew "did some pretty amazing things under very difficult circumstances".

First responders "found a fuel leak and small fire in one of the engines", he said, adding that they used foam to extinguish the flames.

'Loud bang'

Images have been shared on social media showing passengers sitting in oxygen masks as the plane shudders around them.

"All of a sudden, we heard this loud bang, rattling..." said one passenger.

"It just shredded the left-side engine completely... it was scary," Kristopher Johnson told CNN.

Timothy Bourman, a pastor from New York City, told the Philadelphia Inquirer he had been sitting in the rear of the plane when he heard a loud boom.

"All the sudden, it felt like we dropped 100 feet," he said.

"We were kind of out of control for a while. It seemed like the pilot was having a hard time controlling the plane. Honestly I think we just all thought we were going down."

When flight attendants told passengers to brace for impact, Mr Bourman said he and his wife worried for the worst.

"We're just all really thankful to be alive right now," he said. "Thankful to God, thankful to that pilot."

Passenger Marty Martinez posted a brief Facebook live with the caption: "Something is wrong with our plane! It appears we are going down! Emergency landing!! Southwest flight from NYC to Dallas!!"

After landing, he told CBS News that it felt like the plane was "free-falling", and added that he saw one injured woman being taken off the plane by rescuers.

"There was blood everywhere," he said.

"First there was an explosion and then almost immediately the oxygen masks came down and probably within a matter of 10 seconds the engine hit a window and busted it wide open."
A passenger jet suffers an uncontained engine failure during a flight from LaGuardia Airport in New York City to Dallas Love Field in Dallas, Texas. One passenger is killed. The aircraft diverts to Philadelphia International Airport in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.