Southwest Airlines passenger recalls loud bang as engine exploded
Kristopher Johnson was sitting near the front of the plane on which a women died after being partially sucked out of a window.
A passenger on board Southwest Airlines Flight 1380 described hearing a “loud bang” when an engine exploded.
Kristopher Johnson was sitting near the front of the plane on which a woman died after being partially sucked out of a window.
“It was a loud bang,” he told the Press Association.
“It kind of sounded like an explosion. We felt the plane dip a little bit and then we dropped altitude fairly quickly.
“You felt the cold air rush in. You could see your breath. Then the masks fell down.”
Mr Johnson went on: “I’ve spent 20 years in the army and been to Afghanistan a couple of times so I’ve had some close calls there. But on a plane you’re expecting to be relatively safe.”
The 38-year-old from El Paso, Texas, added that the atmosphere on board was “relatively calm”, stating: “There was some panic but it wasn’t chaos. It wasn’t a lot of screaming.”
He said his “thoughts and prayers” are with the family of the woman who died and praised the flight crew for landing the aircraft safely.
