Mother of two identified as passenger killed after plane engine explodes mid-flight

A mother-of-two has been identified as the woman who was killed on a Southwest Airlines plane that suffered catastrophic damage when an engine blew at more than 30,000 feet in the air.

The twin-engine Boeing 737 bound from New York to Dallas with 149 people aboard, blew an engine at 32,000 feet and got hit by shrapnel that smashed a window, setting off a desperate scramble by passengers to save a woman from getting sucked out.

Passengers dragged the woman back in as the sudden decompression of the cabin pulled her part way through the opening, but she was gravely injured.

Jennifer Riordan, a Wells Fargo bank executive and mother of two from Albuquerque, New Mexico, was later identified as the passenger who was killed, however, it remains unclear whether she was the woman pulled through the shattered window.

Ms Riordan was transported to a Philadelphia hospital but later died from her injuries.

She was the first passenger killed in an accident involving a US airline since 2009.

Seven other passengers suffered minor injuries.

News of Ms Riordan’s death was first shared by the assistant principal of the Albuquerque Catholic school attended by her two children.

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In an email to parents, assistant principal Amy McCarty wrote that "the family needs all the prayers we can offer."

The New Mexico Broadcasters Association said Riordan was a graduate of the University of New Mexico and former board member.

Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel praised heroic passengers, saying they did "some pretty amazing things under some pretty difficult circumstances".

The last time a passenger died in an accident on a US airliner was 2009 when 49 people on board and one on the ground were killed when a Continental Express plane crashed on a house near Buffalo, New York.

Southwest has about 700 planes, all of them 737s, including more than 500 737-700s like the one in Tuesday’s accident.

It is the world’s largest operator of the 737. The 737 is the best-selling jetliner in the world and has a good safety record.

Southwest CEO Gary Kelly said in Dallas that there were no problems with the plane or its engine when it was inspected Sunday.