President Donald Trump has praised the actions of the crew and passengers on a damaged Southwest Airlines flight, saying they showed “great character”.
A woman, Jennifer Riordan, died after being almost sucked out of the plane when a window was fractured by debris from an exploding engine.
However, the pilot, Tammie Jo Schults, successfully landed the plane without further loss of life.
Today, it was my great honor to thank and welcome heroic crew members and passengers of Southwest Airlines Flight 1380 at the @WhiteHouse! pic.twitter.com/fYYgWToddi
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 1, 2018
The president said they responded with “tremendous bravery” and “everybody’s talking about it”.
The New York-to-Dallas-bound flight was forced to make an emergency landing in Philadelphia last month after an engine exploded at 30,000 feet.
Ms Riordan died of her injuries despite being pulled back into the cabin by passengers.
Mr Trump hailed the pilot for doing an “incredible job” landing the aircraft and added “our hearts break” for the passenger who was killed.
