Graphic details appear in the fatal flight to Southwest Texas

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania –

There was a loud bang and suddenly, the Southwest Airlines jet rolled 41 degrees to the left. The smoke began to fill the cabin, and the flight attendants rushed to make sure all passengers could get oxygen from their masks.

When flight attendant Rachel Fernheimer reached rank 14, she saw a woman still fastened by her safety belt but with her head, torso and arm hanging on the window.

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Fernheimer grabbed one of the woman's legs while the flight attendant Seanique Mallory caught her lower body. They described their inability to bring the woman back on the plane until two male passengers intervened to help.

The poignant details of the April fatal flight were first published as the National Transportation Safety Board began Wednesday a hearing on the engine failure of Southwest Flight 1380, which was carrying 144 passengers and five members. crew.

After several unsuccessful attempts to reach the pilots via intercom due to airborne noise and noise, Mallory was finally able to relay the situation to Tammie Jo Shults and Darren Ellisor, who had already scheduled an emergency landing of the aircraft. Boeing 737-700, crippled. Philadelphia cream.

"We have (incomprehensible words) an open window and someone – is out the window," Mallory said. According to a transcript, she adds a little later: "Yes, everyone is still sitting, we have people who have helped her in, I do not know what is her condition, but the window is completely open . "

The flight attendants told the investigators that at least one of the male passengers had passed his arm out the window and had it wrapped around the woman's shoulder to help her with the bring back to the interior. Fernheimer said that while looking out the window, she could see that one of the aircraft engines were broken and there was blood on the outside of the plane.

The passenger sitting in the window, Jennifer Riordan, was fatally injured – the first death on a flight from an American company since 2009. Eight other passengers, including at least one of the men who helped bring Riordan back to the window, been slightly injured.

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One of the men, a paramedic in Texas, and a retired school nurse started CPR on Riordan, but according to interviews with investigators, they claimed that his injuries seemed too serious . The emergency personnel took control once the plane landed and the passengers gathered their belongings to send them with them.

The accident was triggered by a fan blade that broke off. A piece of engine hood hit and broke the glass beside Riordan, a 43-year-old mother of two from Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Wednesday's hearing in Washington was devoted to the design and inspection of the engine fan blades, carried out by CFM International, a joint venture of General Electric and Safran S.A.

A spokeswoman for CFM said in a statement sent Wednesday by e-mail that the company could not comment on an ongoing investigation, but said that she had "reacted aggressively" to carry out the investigation. Blade inspection after the fatal flight before August 31st.

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The broken blade had approximately 32,000 flights. An examination showed that the metal probably began to crack due to metal fatigue during its last inspection in 2012, said Mark Habedank, head of engineering at CFM. But the crack was lower than that detected by the test used at the time, which used a fluorescent dye.

After the fatal accident, CFM has recommended the use of more sophisticated tests using ultrasound or electrical currents. The company also recommended much more frequent blade inspections and lubrication.

A broken fan blade caused a similar engine failure with shrapnel on another southwestern flight in August 2016 over Florida.

Christopher Spinney, an FAA engine expert, said the agency considered the Florida incident "very unexpected".

"We determined early that we would need corrective action as it was a dangerous condition," said Spinney, "but we also determined that we had some time."

Rather than issuing an emergency order for the inspection of the fan blades after the 2016 incident, the FAA has begun a normal process of new regulation, which offers the public the opportunity to to comment and takes longer. This process was still going on when the fatal accident occurred.

It was thought that the fan blades had no real life limit. CFM and FAA officials said they were now considering replacing the blades at some point, even if they did not show any wear.

Representatives from CFM, Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration should also be asked about the design of the crankcase, meant to prevent the parts from coming off.