Southwest victim identified as bank executive and mother of 2 from Albuquerque

The Southwest plane that landed Tuesday in Philadelphia.

(Image credit: Dominick Reuter/AFP/Getty Images)

last updated 18 April 2018

The passenger who died Tuesday after she was nearly sucked out of a window on a Southwest Airlines jet has been identified as Jennifer Riordan, a mother of two from Albuquerque.

Riordan was a vice president of community relations at a Wells Fargo in Albuquerque, The Associated Press reports, as well as a board member of Junior Achievement of New Mexico, New Mexico First, The Catholic Foundation, and Annunciation Catholic School. In a statement, Wells Fargo called Riordan "a well-known leader who was loved and respected."

The plane was headed to Dallas from New York City when it blew an engine, sending shrapnel into a window and shattering it. Passenger Eric Zilbert told AP that Riordan was outside of the plane "from her waist above," and other witnesses said two male passengers helped get her back inside. She was given CPR while passengers attempted to plug the hole in the window before the plane made an emergency landing in Philadelphia. Zilbert said they were "very lucky to have such a skilled pilot and crew to see us through it. The plane was steady as a rock after it happened. I didn't have any fearing that it was out of control."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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