Booking a flight? Select a seat towards the back if you're worried about your safety

The Southwest Airlines crash likely won't do much for anyone who suffers aerophobia — a fear of flying.

A terrifying chain of events left 43-year-old Jennifer Riordan hanging half outside a shattered window, as her fellow fliers scrambled to save her from getting sucked out of the plane altogether.

She later died, and seven others were injured.

If you're getting on a plane any time soon, don't worry. As has long been said, it's significantly safer to fly a plane in statistical terms than it is to drive a car.

But if paranoia has you wondering where the best place to sit on a plane is, an expert has the answer.

Steve Purvinas from the Australian Licensed Aircraft Association said you should head towards the back.

"They say it's down the back of the aircraft," he told The Project. "After seeing what's happened today, some people may think the place that's not very safe is next to the engine.

"But there's so much protection on the fuselage or on the engine case that in normal circumstances would stop something like this happening. In fact, this is the only case that I can recall where a blade has gone through the cabin and caused injury to a person."

He said it was "really unusual" for someone to get sucked out of the plane through a window, and reiterated that flying a plane was safer than driving a care.

"Travelling by air is probably one of the safest modes of transport."

It's safer to fly a plane than it is to drive a car. Photo / 123RF

A preliminary examination of the blown jet engine showed evidence of "metal fatigue", according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

In a late night news conference, NTSB chairman Robert Sumwalt said one of the engine's fan blades was separated and missing. The blade was separated at the point where it would come into the hub and there was evidence of metal fatigue, he said.

The engine will be examined further to understand what caused the failure. The investigation is expected to take 12 to 15 months.