A passenger on the Southwest Airlines flight whose engine failure left another traveler dead filed a lawsuit seeking damages for severe injuries.
Southwest flight 1380 was forced to make an emergency landing in Philadelphia earlier this month after shrapnel from an engine fan blade pierced the window of the single-aisle Boeing 737 traveling to Dallas from New York City.
Lilia Chavez said in the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Pennsysvania, that she was sitting three seats behind the shattered window and witnessed fellow passenger Jennifer Riordan being pulled partially through the opening. Riordan, a Wells Fargo executive, later died.
Chavez is seeking compensatory and punitive damages from both Southwest and CFM International, the company that built the engine for the aircraft, for “their reckless misconduct and conscious disregard for her safety, health, life and well-being,” according to the complaint.
An initial review of the engine by the National Transportation Safety Board showed that one of its 24 fan blades was missing, and part of the engine’s exterior cowling, or protective covering, was found about 70 miles from Philadelphia. The agency is reviewing whether metal fatigue was an issue.
The failure of the model 56-7B engine is the design’s second on a Boeing 737 operated by Southwest in two years. The earlier incident occurred on Southwest Flight 3472, which made an emergency landing in Pensacola, Fla., in 2016.
Part of the left engine of that plane, also a Boeing 737-800, and a fan blade separated during flight, the NTSB found, but the passenger compartment wasn’t penetrated.
Southwest, which has accelerated its inspection of the 35,500 fan blades in its fleet, projected a decrease in bookings as a result of the accident.
The carrier declined to comment on the lawsuit. “The safety and security of our employees and customers is our highest priority at all times,” a spokesperson said.
