Mom Who Died in Southwest Plane Emergency Is Praised as Thoughtful Leader
April 18 2018 - 2:41PM
Dow Jones News
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 shibani.mahtani@wsj.com and Scott
Calvert at scott.calvert@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 18, 2018 14:26 ET (18:26 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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