CLEVELAND (AP) — The Latest on a cracked window on a Southwest Airlines jet (all times local): 
 
 1:30 p.m. 
 
 Aviation experts say the slightest defect or micro-crack in a plane window can cause cracks like the one that forced a Southwest Airlines jet to land in Cleveland. 
 
 A Southwest spokeswoman says Flight 957 traveling from Chicago to New Jersey never lost cabin pressure and that the pilots didn't declare an emergency before landing Wednesday morning. 
 
 There were no reports of injuries. 
 
 Airline consultant Robert Mann says windows are periodically polished to remove the formation of tiny cracks in the acrylic windows from exposure to chemicals and the sun's rays. 
 
 He says the pilots were right to make a quick landing. 
 
 Anthony Roman, a commercial pilot and flight instructor based in New York, says problems with windows should be detected during regular inspections and maintenance. 
 
 ___ 
 
 12:45 p.m. 
 
 A Southwest Airlines spokeswoman says a plane forced to land in Cleveland because of a cracked window never lost cabin pressure. 
 
 Spokeswoman Brandy King also says the pilots didn't declare an emergency before landing Wednesday morning. 
 
 There were no reports of injuries after Flight 957 traveling from Chicago to New Jersey landed safely. 
 
 Southwest says there were no other mechanical problems with the plane that has been taken out of service. 
 
 The emergency landing comes two weeks after a Southwest Airlines plane made an emergency landing in Philadelphia after an engine exploded and a blew out a window in a deadly accident. 
 
 ___ 
 
 12 p.m. 
 
 A Southwest Airlines plane flying from Chicago to New Jersey has been forced to land in Cleveland after one of its windows cracked. 
 
 There were no reports of injuries after Flight 957 landed safely on Wednesday morning. 
 
 Dallas-based Southwest says that the plane diverted to Cleveland for a maintenance review after the issue on one of the multiple layers of window pane. 
 
 The emergency landing comes two weeks after a Southwest Airlines plane made an emergency landing in Philadelphia after an engine explosion and a blown out window. 
 
 A woman who was partly sucked out of that window was killed. ||||| The Medical Examiner revealed the cause of death of the victim in Tuesday's deadly mid-air engine explosion. Officials are also investigating the cause of the engine failure. Flight attendants are also speaking out on the importance of safety demonstrations on flights in the wake of the incident. 
 
 As a Southwest Airlines jet hurtled 32,000 feet over suburban Philadelphia, a rare engine explosion caused a passenger’s window to burst, partially pulling the woman sitting next to the opening out of the plane. 
 
 Fellow passengers frantically worked to yank her back inside the airliner as it depressurized and quickly descended thousands of feet per minute, according to several passengers. 
 
 The frightening ordeal played out Tuesday morning onboard Southwest flight 1380 as it headed for Dallas. The Boeing 737-700 was about 20 minutes into its journey from New York’s LaGuardia Airport when the engine failure occurred. The plane, carrying 144 passengers and five crew, diverted to Philadelphia International Airport where it made an emergency landing at 11:20 a.m. 
 
 Passengers described hearing a loud explosion from the left engine — one of two onboard — before debris peppered the fuselage and shattered that window. 
 
 Video Shows Terrifying Moments After Southwest Explosion 
 
 A new video shot by a passenger shows flight attendants calming passengers after a midair explosion on a Southwest flight. (Published Thursday, April 19, 2018) 
 
 "The plane dropped immediately," said Matt Tranchin, who was sitting three rows behind the broken window. "Plane smelled like smoke. Ash was all around us." 
 
 The woman, identified as Jennifer Riordan of Albuquerque, New Mexico, was pulled out of the plane up to her waist — her blood splattering other windows, passengers said. 
 
 "You hear the pop and she was sucked out from the waist up," one passenger told NBC Nightly News. "There was blood on the windows...her arms were actually out of the airplane and her head was out of the airplane." 
 
 
 
 Eric Zilbert, another passenger, said "several heroic gentlemen" pulled Riordan back into the plane and immediately performed CPR. Tranchin said she was covered in blood. 
 
 Peggy Phillips, a nurse, said she and another passenger performed about 20 minutes of CPR on the victim. 
 
 "It just wasn't going to be enough," Phillips said. 
 
 
 
 Mid-Air Engine Blast Leads to Woman's Death 
 
 A mid-air engine explosion led to a woman's death and an emergency landing at Philadelphia International Airport. Passengers who were on board described the terrifying ordeal. (Published Tuesday, April 17, 2018) 
 
 The pilot, speaking to air traffic control via the radio, asked for paramedics to meet the airplane to help injured passengers. 
 
 "We have a part of the aircraft missing," the pilot, Tammie Jo Shults, said. 
 
 Asked whether the plane was on fire, she responded: "No, it's not on fire but part of it’s missing. They said there is a hole and someone went out." 
 
 Once the plane touched down in Philadelphia, firefighters doused it with fire-retardant foam to smother a small fire and gas leak coming from the engine, Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel said. 
 
 Passengers shared photos of major damage to the plane's left engine. The engine inlet was shredded, with metal bent outward. The pane of a window just behind the left wing was missing. 
 
 TV station KOAT in Albuquerque first identified Riordan, a resident of the city, on Tuesday afternoon. Her children's school, Annunciation Catholic School, sent an email to the school community breaking the news of her passing and asking for prayers. 
 
 NTSB Officials Speak on Deadly Mid-Air Flight Emergency 
 
 National Transportation Safety Board chairman Robert Sumwalt revealed the latest information on a Southwest flight engine failure that led to the death of a woman and an emergency landing at Philly International Airport. (Published Tuesday, April 17, 2018) 
 
 Her death is the first on board fatality in Southwest's 51 year history. On Wednesday, the Medical Examiner revealed Riordan died from blunt force trauma to the head, neck and torso. Her death was ruled an accident. 
 
 Philadelphia fire officials said seven passengers were treated on the tarmac for minor injuries. 
 
 The plane was traveling around 500 mph when the incident happened, according to a tracking tool on Flight Aware, and descended by more than 3,000 feet per minute until the pilots leveled out around 10,000 feet. 
 
 Arthur Wolk, an aviation expert, said that is a modest rate of descent and indicated the pilot had control of the aircraft. 
 
 Still, passengers were horrified by the turbulent incident. 
 
 Tranchin, a 34-year-old from Dallas, said he spent 15 minutes calling family to say he loved them. 
 
 1 Dead After Plane Engine Breaks Apart Mid-Air 
 
 One person died after an airplane's engine broke apart mid-air, forcing the flight to make an emergency landing. We have the latest on the investigation as well as sound from witnesses. (Published Tuesday, April 17, 2018) 
 
 "My wife is in her third trimester. We’re expecting our first child. It was one of those things when you don’t want to terrify your family, but if you do go down, you don’t want to not say goodbye," he said. 
 
 Another terrified passenger posted a live video to his Facebook page during the ordeal. The grainy footage shows a man attempting to secure his yellow oxygen mask while updating loved ones following his feed. 
 
 "Something is wrong with our plane! It appears we are going down! Emergency landing!! Southwest flight from NYC to Dallas!!" Facebook user Marty Martinez wrote. He then added, "We are bracing for landing!!" 
 
 Once the plane touched down on Philadelphia International Airport's runway 27, the passengers erupted into applause and thanked the crew. 
 
 Todd Baur, the father-in-law of another passenger, described the crew as "incredible," saying that the pilots and flight attendants acted quickly and calmly. 
 
 Alfred Tumlinson, who was sitting in the rear of the plane, heaped praise on them. 
 
 
 
 "The crew and the pilot…that lady has the nerves of steel…at this point you don’t know where you’re going you don’t know where you’re going to end up, you just have to keep everybody calm," he said. 
 
 
 
 National Transportation Safety Board chairman Robert Sumwalt and a team of investigators landed in Philadelphia Tuesday afternoon to inspect the aircraft. During a Tuesday night press conference, Sumwalt said a part of the plane's engine covering was found in Bernville, Pennsylvania, about 70 miles west of Philadelphia. He also said one of the engine's fan blades was separated and missing. 
 
 The blade was separated at the point where it would come to the hub and there was evidence of metal fatigue, according to Sumwalt. 
 
 The engine — a CFM56 — is widely used in commercial aviation and is designed to prevent debris from breaking off the engine and flying into the body. The engine will eventually be detached from the plane and taken to an off-site facility for study. 
 
 Sumwalt said the NTSB investigation will take an estimated 12 to 15 months. 
 
 
 
 The manufacturer of the engine put out a service bulletin in the fall, telling all airlines to inspect the fan blades after a similar incident involving another Southwest flight. Officials with the airline checked Flight 1380 on Sunday. The FAA is expected to order mandatory inspections soon. 
 
 
 
 ‘We Have Part of the Aircraft Missing’: Pilot to Air Control 
 
 Listen to the communications between the pilot of Southwest Flight 1380 and Air Traffic Control at Philadelphia International Airport as the plane came in for an emergency landing. (Published Tuesday, April 17, 2018) 
 
 The plane's flight recorders have also been secured and will be returned to the NTSB's headquarters near Washington, D.C. immediately, he said. 
 
 Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly released a video statement Tuesday evening sending condolences to the family of the deceased passenger and thanking the crew for their actions. 
 
 “I am immensely grateful there are no other reports of injuries but truly this is a tragic loss,” he said. 
 
 “This is a sad day and our hearts go out to the family and loved ones of the deceased customer please join us in offering our thoughts and prayers and support to all those affected by today's tragedy.” 
 
 This is not the first time a Southwest plane had a major issue recently. 
 
 In February, a cabin fire forced Southwest passengers to deplane before their flight took off from John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California, and San Jose. The fire — believed to be in the Boeing 737's auxiliary power unit — caused the plane's emergency chutes to deploy to evacuate 139 passengers and five crew members. A few minor injuries were reported, but no one was transported to hospitals. 
 
 Expert on 2-Part Emergency on Southwest Flight 
 
 Flight expert Arthur Wolk explains some of the factors that made the landing of Southwest 1380 more difficult than normal engine failure. (Published Wednesday, April 18, 2018) 
 
 In 2016, a Southwest Airlines flight traveling from New Orleans to Orlando diverted to Pensacola when an engine blew out mid-flight. No injuries were reported, but the plane sustained extensive damage similar to what happened Tuesday: the engine’s inlet was torn away revealing additional damage to the fuselage, wing, winglet and tail stabilizer. ||||| It is the stuff of movies, but on Tuesday, it became all too real for passengers on Southwest Airlines flight 1380, who said a woman was partially sucked out of the plane’s window after it was blown out when one of the aircraft’s engine exploded. 
 
 [One person is dead after engine fails on Southwest flight, forcing emergency landing] 
 
 The woman, Jennifer Riordan of Albuquerque, was seated in Row 14, the same row as the missing window, federal investigators said Wednesday. Witnesses said passengers and flight attendants pulled her back. 
 
 The flight, which was headed to Dallas from New York’s La Guardia Airport, made an emergency landing at Philadelphia International Airport. 
 
 Riordan, a Wells Fargo Bank executive and mother of two, died later at a Philadelphia-area hospital. Seven other passengers were injured. Federal officials said Riordan’s death was the first passenger fatality on a U.S. carrier since 2009. 
 
 The Philadelphia Department of Public Health said Wednesday night that Riordan died of blunt-impact trauma to her head, neck and torso. 
 
 “The listed cause of death seems consistent with what we’ve heard in media reports,” department spokesman James Garrow said, though he could not confirm the nature of her death. “The cause that we’re listing and have written on the death certificate sounds consistent with what has been reported,” he said, but he could not say whether the injuries were caused by “the fuselage or the air or the window or debris.” 
 
 [The story of the pilot who calmly landed the Southwest Airlines flight] 
 
 Robert Sumwalt, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said investigators are aware of reports from passengers that Riordan was nearly sucked out of the plane, but that “we have not corroborated that ourselves.” He did say that there were no other holes in the cabin. Investigators also did not find any pieces of the window inside the plane. 
 
 The very idea that a passenger could be sucked out of an airplane midflight has rattled many travelers. Such incidents are rare but have happened. For example, in 1988, an Aloha Airlines flight attendant was pulled to her death after a hole opened in the roof during a flight to Honolulu from Hilo, Hawaii. 
 
 It’s all about air pressure, which varies depending on location. At sea level, atmospheric pressure is about 14.7 psi (pounds per square inch), Thomas Anthony, director of the University of Southern California’s aviation security program, told the Verge. But at an airplane’s cruising altitude, about 33,000 feet, it drops to about 4 psi. That is why the higher you go, the more difficult it is to breathe. The air gets thinner. It’s the reason climbers on Mount Everest must carry oxygen with them. 
 
 Aircraft cabins are pressurized to keep passengers comfortable and alive at high altitudes, said Jim Gregory, a professor of aeronautical engineering and director of the Aerospace Research Center at Ohio State University. 
 
 Without that pressurization, Gregory said: “Every passenger would suffer from hypoxia [a condition in which a person’s body doesn’t get enough oxygen] within a minute or less.” 
 
 Gregory said that the pressure level inside the Southwest cabin was probably about 11 psi, compared with 4 psi outside. While those numbers may not seem that far apart — the difference in pressure could be up to seven pounds per square inch. That could translate to roughly 600 pounds of force acting on each of the plane’s windows, which is why once the window was blown out, the resulting suction would be enough to pull a passenger from a seat. 
 
 [Weather radar detects engine debris from Southwest Airlines Flight 1380] 
 
 “When the window ruptures, you have those two pressure levels trying to equalize,” said Ladd Sanger, an aviation attorney and licensed airplane and helicopter pilot. “The pressure inside the airplane is escaping out that hole to attempt to equalize, which is why it’s creating that suction and pulling from inside the aircraft.” 
 
 Those conditions explain how a passenger could be partially pulled into a small airplane window. And the difficulty of pulling them back in. 
 
 “You think about the pressure differential,” Sanger said. “It’s about somewhere between six and eight times.” 
 
 Gregory said while incidents like Tuesday’s are rare, they are an important reminder that travelers need to pay attention to the preflight safety briefings. That starts with the basics: wearing your seat belt and knowing how to properly wear the oxygen mask. Video from the Southwest flight showed people grabbing their masks and putting them over their mouths, but not their noses. 
 
 As the flight attendants always say during the safety briefings: 
 
 “In the event of a decompression, an oxygen mask will automatically appear in front of you. To start the flow of oxygen, pull the mask towards you. Place it firmly over your nose and mouth, secure the elastic band behind your head, and breathe normally. Although the bag does not inflate, oxygen is flowing to the mask. If you are traveling with a child or someone who requires assistance, secure your mask on first, and then assist the other person. Keep your mask on until a uniformed crew member advises you to remove it.” 
 
 Ashley Halsey contributed to this report.
– A Southwest Airlines plane flying from Chicago to New Jersey was forced to land in Cleveland on Wednesday after one of its windows cracked. The exit-aisle window cracked mid-flight, reports the New York Times, but the cabin never lost pressure as only one of the window's many plexiglass layers was affected. (You can see images here.) There were no reports of injuries after Flight 957 landed safely at Cleveland's Hopkins International Airport, and no emergency was declared. Aviation experts tell the AP the slightest defect or micro-crack in a plane window can cause cracks like this one. Airline consultant Robert Mann says windows are periodically polished to remove the formation of tiny cracks in the acrylic windows from exposure to chemicals and the sun's rays. "The flight landed uneventfully in Cleveland," Southwest said in a statement. "The aircraft has been taken out of service, and our local Cleveland Employees are working diligently to accommodate the 76 customers on a new aircraft to Newark." The incident comes two weeks after a Southwest Airlines plane made an emergency landing in Philadelphia after an engine explosion and a blown out window. A woman who was partly sucked out of that window was killed.