A PASSENGER of the Southwest Airlines jet whose engine exploded had to pay £6 to say his final goodbyes to his loved ones on Facebook.
Marty Martinez, 29, live-streamed the chaos as a fellow flyer was sucked out of the window at 32,000ft.
He was sat two rows behind tragic banker Jennifer Riordan , said "there was blood everywhere".
Martinez began recording a final Facebook Live video for his loved ones but had to pay credit card to pay six quid ($8) for WiFi on board the plane.
The digital marketer said he made the broadcast "because I wanted to reach the people I love"
He added: "Something is wrong with our plane! It appears we are going down! Emergency landing! Southwest flight to NYC to Dallas!!".
Marty later wrote on Facebook: "I literally bought WiFi as the plane was going down because I wanted to be able to reach the people I loved, thinking these were my final moments on earth.
"And put in a position to have to prioritise the people I loved to send them my final words was an absolutely gut wrenching feeling.
"So I thought to Facebook LIVE my experience, thinking this would be my last communication with the people I loved and my team back home."
He also sent a text to his family and friends, which read: "I want you to know that I love you all and thank you for all you’ve done."
Describing the chaos on board he said passengers desperately tried to plug the hole using their jackets but they were convinced they would die.
Riordan, who was on her way home to Albuquerque, New Mexico, was pulled back inside by heroic passengers and crew after the aircraft was pierced by shrapnel.
Riordan's heartbroken husband Michael, and their two young children, described her as "the bedrock of our family".
A family statement read: "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. She and Mike wrote a love story unlike any other. Her beauty and love is evident through her children."
It added: "In her memory – please remember to always be kind, loving, caring, and sharing."
Pilot Tammie Jo Shults is being hailed a hero for safely landing the plane with 143 passengers and five crew on board at Philadelphia.
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After the mid-air blast tore a gaping hole in the aircraft's side, she told shocked air traffic controllers "there’s a hole and uh… someone went out."
During an extraordinary exchange with air traffic control, the pilot revealed she had "injured passengers" who would require medical help on landing.
The Boeing 737 had just departed New York's LaGuardia Airport en-route to Dallas when the left engine exploded and ruptured metal flew towards a window.
Experts classifying Southwest incident as an ‘engine failure’
National Transport Safety Board Chairman Robert Sumwalt said investigators are currently classifying the event as an "engine failure."
He said it could ultimately be classified as an uncontained engine failure, though that is a technical term which depends on where, precisely, the parts that left the engine originated from.
He added that as a former Boeing 737 pilot, he has never experienced anything like it himself, though the NTSB sees about "three or four" uncontained engine failures a year, though not all of those involve US carriers.
He gave the example of Air France flight 66 which made an emergency landing in Canada last fall after one of its engines failed during an Atlantic crossing.
Sarah Eamigh, a passenger on the flight, told CNN partner CTV News that passengers sensed something was wrong during that 2017 flight.
"We heard a loud pop, and we had a quick descent along with some vibration. It definitely was not turbulence so we knew something was wrong," she told the Canadian broadcaster.
"The captain was able to recover the plane quite fast, however, we were definitely nervous because the vibrating was probably occurring a good five to eight minutes. And then the captain basically 10 to 15 minutes after provided an announcement stating that we had a small engine explosion."
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