Jennifer Riordan, a bank executive and mother of two from Albuquerque, New Mexico, was hit by shrapnel as passengers desperately scrambled to save her from getting pulled out of the plane by the sudden decompression.
She later died and seven others were injured.
The pilots of the Southwest Airlines plane - flying from New York to Dallas with 149 people aboard - were forced to put the twin-engine Boeing 737 into a rapid descent and made an emergency landing in Philadelphia as frightened passengers using oxygen masks said their prayers and braced for impact.
New Yorker Amanda Bourman who was on board with her husband said: "I remember holding my husband's hand and we just prayed and prayed.
"Everybody was crying and upset. You had a few passengers that were very strong, and they kept yelling to people, you know, 'It's OK! We're going to do this!'"
She shared a picture of the damaged engine on Instagram and said a passenger exclaimed "there is a God" when the plane landed.
Photos of the plane on the tarmac showed a missing window and a chunk gone from the left engine, including part of its cover.
Marty Martinez, a passenger on the flight, broadcast the experience live on Facebook.
The National Transportation Safety Board said a preliminary examination of the blown engine from Flight 1380 showed evidence of "metal fatigue".
In a 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.
As a precaution, Southwest said it will inspect similar engines in its fleet over the next 30 days.
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