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Passenger sues Southwest Airlines over exploding engine

NTSB VIA AP

A National Transportation Safety Board investigator examined damage to the engine of the Southwest Airlines plane that made an emergency landing at Philadelphia International Airport on April 17. A lawsuit by passenger Lilia Chavez was filed Thursday in federal court in Philadelphia alleging negligence by Southwest.

PHILADELPHIA >> A passenger who says she’s been suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder since an engine exploded on a Southwest Airlines flight is suing the airline.

The lawsuit by Lilia Chavez was filed Thursday in federal court in Philadelphia alleging negligence by Dallas-based Southwest.

Chavez says she was sitting three seats behind a window that shattered after the engine exploded on Flight 1380 on April 17. She says she witnessed “the horror” as the force of depressurization pulled fellow passenger Jennifer Riordan partially through the shattered window. Riordan later died.

The plane traveling from New York to Dallas made an emergency landing in Philadelphia.

Southwest said it could not comment on pending litigation.

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