One killed, seven injured in US plane engine explosion

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01:27

One person was killed and seven slightly injured after a US Southwest Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing on Tuesday after a “major engine failure”.

The plane landed at Philadelphia International Airport at 11:20 a.m. (1520 GMT) after a window, wings and fuselage were damaged, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

It is the first fatal incident in US commercial aviation since 2009.

The incident took place when the Boeing 737-700 carrying 144 passengers and five crew members headed to Dallas from New York's La Guardia airport.

NTSB investigators are examining damage to the engine of the Southwest Airlines plane. /VCG Photo

Passengers heard an explosion in the left engine less than 50 minutes after the plane took off.

A preliminary investigation showed that an engine fan blade was missing and there was metal fatigue at the point where it had apparently broken off, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

Part of the engine's covering, called cowling, was found in Bernville, Pennsylvania, about 70 miles from the Philadelphia airport, said NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt at a press conference, adding that the investigation would take 12 to 15 months.

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