Southwest plane makes emergency landing in Philadelphia; engine trouble cited

(Reuters) - A Dallas-bound Southwest Airlines Co made an emergency landing at Philadelphia International Airport on Tuesday after suffering engine trouble during the flight, local media reports said.

Television images showed visible damage to the plane's exterior, and a man who said he had been a passenger on the aircraft told CNN he heard a loud bang during the journey and saw damage to the engine. One person was injured, media reports said.

Flight 1380, a Boeing Co 737-300, was bound for Dallas Love Field in Texas from New York's LaGuardia airport with 143 passengers and five crew on board, Southwest said in a statement. The airline did not immediately confirm engine damage.

"All of a sudden, we heard this loud bang, rattling, it felt like one of the engines went out. The oxygen masks dropped," the passenger, Kristopher Johnson told CNN. "It just shredded the left-side engine completely ... it was scary."

A spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration declined to comment.

(Reporting by Peter Szekely; Editing by Bernadette Baum)