Southwest Plane Debris Recovered In Berks County

BERKS COUNTY, Pa. (CBS) - Authorities have recovered pieces of the Southwest plane that could shed light on what went terribly wrong Tuesday after the Dallas-bound flight was forced to make an emergency landing.

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Pennsylvania State Police say part of the plane was recovered near Bright School Road and Route 183 in Berks County on Wednesday.

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The National Transportation Safety Board was back on the scene Wednesday after passenger Jennifer Roirdan, a mother of two and Wells Fargo bank executive from New Mexico, died when the jet engine failed mid-flight and blew out the window.

The NTSB says a preliminary examination of the blown jet engine of Flight 1380 revealed that the engine's fan blades were separated and missing which means there was metal fatigue. The blown window created a suction, partially pulling out Riordan.

The plane flew some 70 miles with a single working engine after parts of the plane's second engine blew out. NTSB investigators discovered pieces of that second engine about 20 minutes north of Reading.

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"Somebody found it... There could be additional missing fragments and if anybody locates any piece of an airplane, or if they think it's part of a plane, we'd like to hear from them," said NTSB chairman Robert Sumwalt.

Police are asking anyone that finds possible debris related to this incident to contact the FBI in Allentown at 610-433-6488.

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