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Travelers share mixed feelings after Southwest incident; aviation expert says no need to fear flying

The National Transportation Safety Board continues to investigate Southwest Flight 1380 after an engine problem on one of their airplanes led the death of a passenger, and the injuries of seven others.

The Boeing 737 was flying at 32,500 feet Tuesday morning, on a trip from New York City to Dallas, when one of the engine’s blades broke off 20 minutes into the flight.

It broke one of the windows in the cabin and shrapnel struck and killed passenger Jennifer Riordan, of Albuquerque, New Mexico was nearly sucked into the broken window she was sitting next to.

The pilot, being identified as "Tammie Jo" by passengers -- made an emergency landing in Philadelphia.

Action News Jax's Courtney Cole spoke to our aviation expert to learn more about what it took to land the plane and what the pilot was up against in those frightening moments.

"My girlfriend told me this morning, ‘Did you hear about the flight? What airline are you on?'” said Jacksonville traveler Matthew Anderson.

The engine failure incident that happened on Southwest 1380 has some travelers like Anderson questioning if this could happen to on the next flight he catches at Jacksonville International Airport.

"It’s just kind of startling to kind of think twice about what airline you’re choosing,” Anderson said.

But John Jackson, another traveler Action News Jax’s Courtney Cole spoke to at JIA, says he’s not worried about it.

“Things happen, car accidents happen. Train accidents happen, you just hope it doesn’t happen again. It’s not going to affect the way I fly. I still will continue to fly.”

And Action News Jax Aviation Expert Capt. Wayne Ziskal says travelers shouldn't worry, because this was an isolated incident.

“If you look at air travel in the United States our safety record is unbelievable! The thousands and thousands of flights that happen every day, this is the first fatality of a passenger since 2009. That’s a remarkable safety record,” Ziskal said.

Ziskal says the team effort of the pilot crew, flight attendant, and air traffic control was remarkable considering everything that was happening during the engine failure.

“When something like this happens, it’s not just one incident. When the engine blew, It also affected the pressurization of the aircraft. So they had multiple warnings in the cockpit, oral and visual.”

He says  they managed to establish communication, bring the plane to a lower altitude and secure the engine -- all while controlling their emotions, which isn't easy.

“I’ve listened to the tapes between air traffic control, and the pilots maintained their emotional intelligence and emotion control — to be in control of the situation while still understanding that they had a job to do and they had do it expeditiously and correctly and well — and they did.”

Ziskal told Action News Jax that the parts and remains of the engine will be helpful to the NTSB as the continue the investigation.