Mom Who Died in Southwest Plane Emergency Is Praised as Thoughtful Leader

By Shibani Mahtani and Scott Calvert 

The sole passenger killed on a Southwest Airlines flight that made an emergency landing Tuesday after an engine blew apart in midair, Jennifer Riordan, was a mother of two who was heading back to home to Albuquerque, N.M., where she worked as a bank executive.

Ms. Riordan, 43, was a community-relations leader for Wells Fargo in Albuquerque. She was making her way back home, where she lives with her husband, a daughter and a son, according to a family member.

"From my perspective she was the most vivacious, full-of-life person you could ever meet," said Marianne Riordan, Ms. Riordan's sister-in-law. "Family was first and she loved everyone, and loved life."

Her death was the first passenger fatality from a U.S. airline incident since 2009. The flight, Southwest Airlines flight 1380, was flying from New York's LaGuardia Airport to Dallas. The plane, captained by Tammie Jo Shults, one of the first female Navy fighter pilots, made an emergency landing around 11:27 a.m. Tuesday at Philadelphia International Airport.

The National Transportation Safety Board hasn't said how Ms. Riordan was killed. One theory, according to a person familiar with the matter, is that she was struck by pieces of the crippled engine that came in through the plane window. Passengers describe trying to pull her back into the plane after she was partially sucked out of a shattered window when the engine exploded. They were unable to revive her.

In a statement, Ms. Riordan's family described her as their "bedrock."

"Jennifer's vibrancy, passion and love infused our community and reached across our country. Her impact on everything and everyone she touched can never be fully measured," the Riordan family added in the statement.

Wells Fargo described her as a "well-known leader who was loved and respected." According to her LinkedIn page, she was in the community-relations department at the bank since 2008. She was also a board member of the New Mexico Broadcasters Association, and won a scholarship from the association, it said.

Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said she was a "thoughtful leader who has long been part of the fabric of [the] community".

"This is a tremendous and tragic loss for Jennifer's family and many others throughout the city," he said. "Her leadership and philanthropic efforts made this a better place every day and she will be terribly missed."

Write to Shibani Mahtani at [e-mail] and Scott Calvert at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 18, 2018 14:26 ET (18:26 GMT)

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