SAN ANTONIO – The National Transportation Safety Board is still investigating the engine explosion on a Southwest Airlines flight headed to Dallas that led to one passenger’s death and an emergency landing.
There were several passengers on board from San Antonio and the surrounding area, with one of them being Roshini Mathew.
KSAT's Max Massey sat down with Mathew, who recounted waking up to a frightening experience during the Southwest flight.
Q: Could you feel the explosion of the engine?
"I remember I was just falling asleep, and then all the sudden, my ears just got shot because we lost cabin pressure. We fell from 30,000 (feet) to 10,000 (feet) in about a three-second time period. The oxygen masks came down. I couldn't hear anything, I felt the impact of the explosion but couldn’t hear it to the full extent because, again, my hearing was just completely shot."
Q: Did you see the passenger who was nearly sucked out of the plane?
Mathew, who sat down toward the front of the plane and far from the scene, said when the engine exploded, it caused a window nearby to burst open, nearly blowing a passenger out.
"What I wanted to figure out was why was there all this blood. Thankfully, there was already a medic (who was) there doing chest compressions, and the flight attendant had brought out an AED and they were able to give her (passenger victim) a run, and we had to brace for landing," Mathew said.
Q: What is going through your mind after seeing the engine?
"I almost got my second chance at life almost because I honestly don’t (think) there’s no way we should have landed. It’s just a blessing, a miracle and I’m just thankful to be here."
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