Nearly a thousand people have gathered at a vigil to mourn the Albuquerque bank executive who died after the Southwest Airlines flight she was on blew an engine and she was partially pulled out of the plane window in mid air.
Jennifer Riordan, 43, was pronounced dead at a hospital in Philadelphia on Tuesday after the plane she was on made an emergency landing.
A memorial service was held for the married mother-of-two at Popejoy Hall on the University of New Mexico campus, her alma mater, on Sunday night.
Riordan is survived by her husband Michael and their children.
Jennifer Riordan’s husband Michael speaks at her memorial service in Albuquerque, New Mexico on Sunday night after she was killed on the Southwest Airlines flight
‘We appreciate the outpouring of support from the community. It truly touches our hearts,’ the Riordan family wrote in a statement.
Jennifer Riordan, 43, was pronounced dead at a hospital in Philadelphia on Tuesday after the plane she was on made an emergency landing.
‘We know there are many in the community who want to celebrate Jennifer.’
Lt. Gov. John Sanchez presented Michael Riordan with a flag that was flown at half-staff at New Mexico’s Capitol in his wife’s memory.
‘She was considered a friend, colleague, and pillar of the community and will be forever missed,’ Sanchez said at the memorial service.
The community leader and mother of two had been heading home from a business trip Tuesday on a flight from New York’s LaGuardia Airport bound for Dallas.
Early in the flight as the plane was at 32,000 feet, one of its twin engines suddenly exploded.
The impact showered the jet with debris and shattered the window next to Riordan.
Nearly a thousands people gathered at the memorial service at Popejoy Hall on the University of New Mexico campus, her alma mater, on Sunday night
Michael Riordan was surrounded by family members as he spoke on stage at his wife’s memorial in New Mexico on Sunday night
Authorities said Riordan was fatally injured when she was sucked partway through the window, sending passengers scrambling to help her as the aircraft shook violently and went into a rapid descent.
The plane made an emergency landing in Philadelphia.
Riordan was the only one of the 149 people on board who suffered fatal injuries.
The National Transportation Safety Board believes one of the engine fan blades snapped.
Riordan was well known in the Albuquerque area for an established career in community engagement and volunteerism.
The mother-of-two was described as a ‘pillar of the community’. She was well known in the Albuquerque area for an established career in community engagement and volunteerism
Early in the flight as the plane was at 32,000 feet, one of its twin engines suddenly exploded and forced the pilot into making an emergency landing
The impact showered the jet with debris and shattered the window next to Riordan. Authorities said Riordan was fatally injured when she was sucked partway through the window
She served as vice president of community relations for Wells Fargo’s New Mexico operations. She oversaw the company’s corporate giving program in New Mexico and volunteered her time with a number of area nonprofit groups and boards.
‘She was the face of giving. If you were an idea or a dream that needed a little help, she was your gal. Her currency was compassion,’ said Albuquerque poet laureate Hakim Bellamy, who read an original poem at the memorial.
‘The kind of kindness that folds like a hug like a laugh like her wings before she was so close to heaven that the angles recognized her and plucked her from the sky.’
Riordan graduated from the University of New Mexico with a communications degree in 1999 and previously worked as the media relations manager at UNM Hospital.
Riordan and her husband, Michael, a former chief operating officer for the city of Albuquerque, were married for more than 20 years.