PHILADELPHIA –A Southwest Airlines jet reportedly blew an engine at about 30,000 feet, producing shrapnel that broke a window and damaged the fuselage Tuesday. The NTSB confirmed one person has died after the emergency landing of a Southwest Airlines plane at Philadelphia International Airport on Tuesday.

“We do have information there was one fatality,” NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt said. No further details were provided.

Another 12 people were assessed by medics, officials reported, and seven of those people were treated for minor injuries.

Sixteen people are being treated for injuries when a bus crashed on its way to the Masters Tournament at Augusta National on Thursday morning, according to WRDW and the Georgia State Patrol.

A tour bus heading from Atlanta to Augusta carrying 18 people overturned around 8:45 a.m. on the eastbound side of I-20. The bus, carrying 18 people, went off the right side of the road before going off the left side of the road and flipping over in the median.

On Sunday night, a self-driving car operated by Uber struck and killed a pedestrian, 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg, on North Mill Avenue in Tempe, Arizona. It appears to be the first time a self-driving car has killed a human being by force of impact. The car was traveling at 38 miles per hour.

An initial investigation by Tempe police indicated that the pedestrian might have been at fault. According to that report, Herzberg appears to have come “from the shadows,” stepping off the median into the roadway, and ending up in the path of the car while jaywalking across the street. The National Transportation Safety Board has also opened an investigation.

Likewise, it’s difficult to evaluate what this accident means for the future of autonomous cars. Crashes, injuries, and fatalities were a certainty as driverless vehicles began moving from experiment to reality.

When a driver is involved in car accidents, after seeking any necessary medical attention, it is natural to start thinking about the costs that are going to be associated with the accident if there are any injuries or property damage involved. When the negligent driver involved is driving a company car, it is possible the driver’s employer may be responsible for the driver’s actions.

Under the tort doctrine of respondeat superior, an employer is responsible for the actions of an employee that are done in the performance of the employee’s employment duties. This means that if an employee is driving a company car, and is negligent in its operation thereby causing an accident, the employer is considered equally liable, and can be sued to seek compensation for injuries sustained in car accidents.

When determining whether or not an employer is liable for the employee’s actions, a judge or jury looks to whether the employee was within the scope of his or her employment duties, or if the employee was performing a special errand for the employer when the accident occurred. Just because an employee is driving a company car does not mean employer liability is automatic. If the employee was supposed to be driving to a specific place and instructed to return to headquarters, but instead deviated in the opposite direction at which point the accident happened, the employer might not be found liable. If the employer is not receiving a benefit from the trip, it is not likely that liability will be shifted to the employer. Additionally, if an employee is on the way to or from work, or on a lunch break, the employer is not likely to be liable under respondeat superior.