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Southwest Airlines Flight 1380: Seventeen minutes to land, no good options, and a crew that didn't flinch

Southwest Airlines Flight 1380 took off from LaGuardia Airport, New York, on April 17th, 2018. The Boeing 737-700 was headed for the airline's operating base at Dallas Love Field Airport. There were 144 passengers onboard and five crew members. Captain Tammie Jo Shults and First Officer Darren Ellisor were in the flight deck. Flight attendants Rachel Fernheimer, Seanique Mallory, and Kathryn Sandoval were working in the cabin. A four-hour flight was expected. The take-off was normal, and the first 30 minutes were uneventful. Unfortunately, at 11:03 local time, at 32,000 feet, pieces of the left engine inlet and fan cowl separated from the aircraft. Fragments from the inlet and cowl impacted the left side of the fuselage, the left wing, and the left horizontal stabilizer. One piece struck the fuselage near a cabin window on row 14, and the window separated from the aircraft. According to the NTSB report, the probable cause was a low-cycle fatigue crack in the dovetail of fan blade no. 13, resulting in the blade separating in flight. This led to a rapid decompression. The aircraft yawed to the left, and alarms sounded in the cockpit. There was a puff of gray smoke, and the flight crew could see that they had lost air pressure in the cabin. Two emergencies, one aircraftThe flight crew donned their oxygen masks, and the first officer started an emergency descent as per procedures. They felt a severe vibration from the left engines. Just seconds later, the cabin altitude alert activated, and the aircraft rolled forty degrees before they could counter the roll. Due to the extensive damage, the aircraft became challenging to fly, so the captain took over, and the first officer read the emergency checklist. Passengers were waiting for the service to start and were reading, playing Sudoku, or watching movies. At 11:03, Rachel was in the cabin around rows four and five, and Seanique was in the forward lavatory. Kathryn was in the aft galley preparing for the in-flight service. They heard a loud noise and felt the vibration before the oxygen masks dropped. The flight attendants went back to their jump seats and strapped in, grabbing their oxygen masks as per procedure. The aircraft was now descending fast, and the cabin was swirling with debris and wind. Passengers were struggling to put the oxygen masks on. One was live-streaming the accident on Facebook, whilst others sent messages to their families. Some held hands or prayed, thinking they might die. The flight attendants switched to portable oxygen and moved through the cabin assisting passengers. Rachel noticed that many of them had their oxygen masks on incorrectly and were only covering their mouth, so she went through correcting them. As she reached the mid-cabin at row 14, she saw that a female passenger was still restrained by her seat belt, but her head, torso, and arm were out of the window. Rachel asked the passengers in 14B and C to move away, 'In case the hole got bigger.' Rachel and Seanique grabbed the injured woman and tried to pull her back inside the cabin, but struggled because of the cabin pressure and altitude outside. The passengers seated at 8D and 13D helped them to pull her back inside. She was unconscious and bleeding badly. They lay the passenger down on seats 14ABC. Rachel looked outside and saw the shattered engine and blood on the fuselage. Rachel went to the aft galley to use the interphone and alerted the flight crew of the passenger's condition. She also made an announcement asking for medical assistance. A paramedic seated in 8D and a retired nurse in 11C started CPR on the injured passenger. Seanique fetched the AED, CPR mask, and fast response kit from the overhead locker. They continued CPR throughout the flight, and another passenger helped give rescue breaths. Seventeen minutes to PhiladelphiaThe captain asked air traffic control if they could divert. They decided on Philadelphia as the airport had better facilities for dealing with an emergency landing. ATC provided them with the vectors for Philadelphia. It was just two and a half minutes from the engine failure. Communication was difficult because of the oxygen masks, the noise, and the distraction, but it improved as they descended. The first officer called the flight attendants on the interphone to check the status in the cabin. Kathryn picked up but could not hear anything but noise. Seanique managed to speak to the flight crew and informed them of the injured passenger. The captain originally planned a long final approach to ensure that they went through all the checklists, but on hearing that a passenger was severely injured, she expedited the landing. She told ATC about the injured passenger and requested that medics be ready for them on the ground. The captain announced that they were diverting to Philadelphia. The flight attendants secured the cabin for landing. The jump seats at the aft of the cabin were full due to the passengers on row 14 being moved there, and there was one airline employee. One flight attendant could not reach her jumpseat in time. The flight attendants sat on the floor where they could and asked the passengers to hold on to them. As they came to land, the flight attendants shouted their commands, 'Heads down, stay down' in preparation for the emergency landing. The aircraft landed safely at 11:20 with applause, and passengers sent messages and called their families, saying they were ok. The captain asked that the passengers remain in their seats and await instructions from the flight attendants. Seanique disarmed the forward doors, and Kathryn disarmed the aft doors. Rachel stayed with the injured passenger. The passengers from 8D and 11C continued CPR. The cabin was completely quiet as the medics came onboard and took the injured passenger away on a stretcher. Sadly, she was declared dead later at the hospital. She had blunt force trauma to the head, neck, and torso. Seven passengers had minor injuries and were taken care of by the flight attendants. A hero's welcomeA representative from the United States Secretary of Transportation said, 'I commend the pilots who safely landed the aircraft and the crew and fellow passengers who provided support and care for the injured, preventing what could have been far worse.' On May 1st, 2018, US President Donald Trump welcomed the crew and select passengers to the White House, thanking them for their heroism.
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