League City resident and Air Force veteran identified as co-pilot on fatal Southwest flight

LEAGUE CITY, Texas (KTRK) -- One of the crewmembers in the cockpit of the Southwest Airlines plane that suffered an engine explosion mid-flight, which killed one passenger, is a League City resident.

First Officer Darren Ellisor was working on Flight 1380 Tuesday when the aircraft suffered some sort of explosion.

According to an initial investigation, the explosion caused engine parts to fly off and shatter a window of the plane while more than 30,000 feet in the air.

A woman sitting next to the window, Jennifer Riordan, was nearly sucked out of the plane when the window shattered.

The plane, which was flying from New York's LaGuardia Airport to Dallas Love Field, made an emergency landing in Philadelphia. Riordan was rushed off the plane with critical injuries, but later died.

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An Eyewitness News crew went to Ellisor's listed address Wednesday night in League City, where a woman who identified herself as his wife confirmed that he was working onboard the flight.

The woman, who did not want to speak on camera, said she's "extremely proud" of her husband, who was not home at the time.

Eyewitness News learned Ellisor is a former Air Force pilot.

Late Wednesday, Southwest Airlines released a statement on behalf of Ellisor and Capt. Tammie Jo Shults, who was also working on the flight.

"As Captain and First Officer of the crew of five who worked to serve our Customers aboard Flight 1380 yesterday, we all feel we were simply doing our jobs. Our hearts are heavy. On behalf of the entire Crew, we appreciate the outpouring of support from the public and our coworkers as we all reflect on one family's profound loss. We joined our Company today in focused work and interviews with investigators. We are not conducting media interviews and we ask that the public and the media respect our focus," the statement said.

Meanwhile, the plane involved in the explosion and mid-flight death was ordered grounded.