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Coroner: Woman Died Of Blunt Impact Trauma Of Head On Southwest Flight

PHILADELPHIA (CBS/AP) --Philadelphia's medical examiner says that a woman killed when she was partially blown out of a Southwest Airlines plane died of blunt impact trauma to her head, neck and torso.

Spokesman James Garrow of the Philadelphia Department of Public Health said Wednesday evening that Jennifer Riordan's death was ruled accidental.

NTSB Investigating Whether Metal Fatigue Caused Fan Blade To Snap Off Southwest Plane's Engine

 

Riordan was killed and seven others were injured after the twin-engine 737 blew an engine at 30,000 feet Tuesday and got hit by shrapnel.

Riordan was a bank executive and mother of two from New Mexico.

southwest Jennifer Riordan
Credit: CBS3

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

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

Riordan was a vice president of community relations for Wells Fargo bank. She was the wife of Michael Riordan, who served until recently as the chief operating officer for the city of Albuquerque.

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

Official: Mother Dies After Southwest Engine Blows; Woman Nearly Sucked Out

Federal investigators are still trying to figure out how the window came out of the plane. National Transportation Safety Board chairman Robert  Sumwalt says that the woman was wearing a seatbelt and sitting next to the window.

(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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