Southwest - Suck out!

[red-beard]

Well, I'm not flying them, anytime!

The jet's left engine blew shortly after takeoff, passengers said. Pieces of shrapnel flew into the plane's fuselage and at least one window, the passengers and FAA said.

A Southwest Airlines flight landed safely in Philadelphia Tuesday after the jet violently depressurized when a piece of an engine flew into and broke a window, according to passenger accounts and the pilot's conversations with air traffic control.

One passenger's father-in-law, relaying information from his daughter, said the impact was so severe that a female passenger was partially sucked out of the plane when the window imploded.

Todd Baur told NBC10 the woman was partially "drawn out" of the plane before being "pulled back in by other passengers."

The pilot, speaking to air traffic control via radio, asked for paramedics to meet the airplane to help injured passengers.

The woman who apparently was pulled out of the plane is said to have been rushed to a Philadelphia hospital, Baur said. It's not clear how many any other passengers were injured and how serious those injuries may be.

https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Airplane-Makes-Emergency-Landing-at-Philadelphia-International-Airport-480008613.html

[pwd72s]

One thing I am thankful for...that there is nowhere I need or want to be badly enough to board an airplane to get there.

[Toast54]

Wanna get away? Not that badly

[flatbutt]

Is it really possible to get pulled through an airliner window? I can easily imagine internal injuries being inflicted but going out that little window? Maybe the opening got enlarged?

[vash]

holy crap!!! that is not the kinda sucking in my airplane fantasy..

[stevej37]

would have to be small

[stevej37]

[flatbutt]

A kid not belted in would have been sucked out?

[scottmandue]

737, I'm surprised...

[Jeff Higgins]

Yes, it is entirely possible to get blown out through the window on a commercial airliner. And no, the window will not enlarge in any way to allow for this. Those window frames are sturdy enough that we jack the airplane by them, running a beam through and picking them up on opposite sides. You are simply extruded through that little opening. Think Playdough Fun Factory.

Granted, this is through the cockpit windows, but it gives you an idea. It was the only pick I could find.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

Yes, it is entirely possible to get blown out through the window on a commercial airliner. And no, the window will not enlarge in any way to allow for this.

So chances of surviving the extrusion are not favorable. The pressure delta must be yuge in order to make that happen.

[vash]

now we fly!! they will be super safe for the foreseeable future.

[tcar]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

Is it really possible to get pulled through an airliner window? I can easily imagine internal injuries being inflicted but going out that little window? Maybe the opening got enlarged?

It was just her head... she was pulled back in by other pax.

She died.

[BK911]

...

[vash]

OMG..she died?!

oh no..that is a scary ending.

[wildthing]

These are the situations that I imagine in my head when I fly. I have to remind myself of the statistics.

But still...

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

So chances of surviving the extrusion are not favorable. The pressure delta must be yuge in order to make that happen.

At altitude the pressure differential is quite high. I get the impression this was on climb-out, so the inside/outside delta was not as great as it could have been. At altitude, even a football lineman would disappear like a fart in a hurricane, leaving a pretty gooey mess behind. Of course everything else going out behind him would soon clean that right up.

[cmccuist]

If the engine exploded shortly after take off, then what altitude were they at?

How long does it take to get to where you could suck a passenger through that window?

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by cmccuist

If the engine exploded shortly after take off, then what altitude were they at?

How long does it take to get to where you could suck a passenger through that window?

In addition to the static pressure delta, we have airspeed to contend with. All of that air rushing by outside creates a pretty good low pressure zone around the airplane all on its own. Imagine if you rolled the window down on your car at 300-400 mph, or whatever they had achieved by then.

[Gretch]

article said 30k feet when engine blew...........