Depressurisation is believed to have caused the female passenger to be partially sucked through window before others intervened on Southwest Airlines flight 1380

One person has died after a woman aboard a Southwest Airlines flight in the US was reportedly ‘sucked through the plane window’ during a mid-flight emergency.

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairman Robert Sumwalt confirmed the fatality during a press conference this afternoon.

The left engine on flight 1380 is believed to have failed at 32,000 feet, causing shrapnel to fly off and hit the side of the plane, according to reports.

The plane was en route to Dallas from New York’s LaGuardia Airport but diverted to Philadelphia International Airport during the incident at around 11am local time this morning.

Mr Sumwalt confirmed this is the first passenger fatality on a US airline since 2009.

Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel said seven others aboard the aircraft were treated for minor injuries.

In a phone interview with CNN, passenger Marty Martinez said a window exploded mid-flight, causing a woman serious injuries.

Mr Martinez said: “The injured woman’s arms and body were sucked toward the opening in the plane.

“Objects flew out the hole where the window had been, and passengers right next to her were holding onto her.

“And meanwhile, there was blood all over this man’s hands. He was tending to her.

“We could feel the air from the outside coming in, and then we had smoke kind of coming in the window.

“Meanwhile, you have passengers that were in that aisle, trying to attend to the woman that was bleeding from the window explosion.

“That was just chaos all around.”