A banking executive has died after being partially sucked out of a window of a US plane when an engine exploded in mid-air.

Jennifer Riordan, a 43-year-old vice-president at Wells Fargo, was left hanging half outside the Southwest Airlines passenger jet at 32,000ft.

Passengers scrambled to save the mother of two, who was partly sucked out of the Boeing 737 when the window was smashed by debris. Mrs Riordan, who was returning from a business trip, later died and seven others were injured.

The pilot, Tammie Jo Shults, was praised for her cool-headed handling of the emergency and described as having "nerves of steel".

In an air traffic control recording released by NBC News, the former Navy pilot is heard saying: "We have a part of the aircraft missing, so we're going to need to slow down a bit."

Asked if the plane is on fire, she says it is not but adds: "They said there is a hole and someone went out."