Southwest passengers who survived a fatal flight are suing the airline claiming they suffered 'overwhelming horror'
- A group of Southwest Airlines passengers is suing the airline seeking damages resulting from the emergency landing of Flight 1380 in April.
- The suit claims the group of eight passengers suffered mental, emotional, and psychological injuries due to the incident.
- Southwest Airlines Flight 1380 was en route from New York to Dallas when a fan blade on one of its engines snapped off.
- The resulting explosion punctured the Boeing 737-700's fuselage causing the plane to depressurize, fatally injuring passenger Jennifer Riordan.
Some Southwest Airlines passengers are suing the airline seeking unspecified damages following the emergency landing of Flight 1380 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on April 17.
In the suit filed Tuesday in New York State Supreme Court, a group of eight passengers claims they were faced with the "overwhelming horror of being trapped in a plane about the crash," the New York Post reported.
"As a direct result of the frightful, death-threatening Flight 1380 incident, each Plaintiff suffered severe mental, emotional and psychological injuries, including post-traumatic stress disorder, and physical injuries," the lawsuit states.
The civil suit also alleges that the Dallas-based airline failed to reasonably monitor and maintain the failed engine that caused the incident.
Southwest Airlines declined to comment on the matter citing its status as pending lawsuit.
Riordan was not among the plaintiffs named in this suit.
The aircraft was 20 minutes into a flight from New York's LaGuardia Airport to Dallas Love Field when the incident took place.
According to a preliminary inspection by the National Transportation Safety Board, investigators believe metal fatigue caused one of the engines 24 fan blades to snap off mid-flight.
Another Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 experienced a similar failure in 2016. No one was injured in that incident.