The woman who was killed when she was partially blown out of a Southwest Airlines plane was wearing a seatbelt at the time, but died from blunt impact trauma, according to authorities.

Spokesman James Garrow of the Philadelphia Department of Public Health said Wednesday evening that banking executive Jennifer Riordan's death was ruled accidental.

Riordan was killed and seven others were injured after the twin-engine 737 blew an engine at 30,000 feet Tuesday throwing shrapnel into a window of the plane.

National Transportation Safety Board chairman Robert Sumwalt said Ms Riordan, who was sitting next to a window, was wearing a seatbelt before she was partially sucked out of the plane.

The Federal Aviation Administration announced Wednesday that it would order inspections on engine fan blades like the one that snapped off and triggered the accident. Federal investigators are still trying to figure out how the window came out of the plane.