A Southwest Airlines flight has been forced to abandon take off, after the aircraft was hit by a bullet. The incident took place on 15 November 2024 at around 9.50 a.m., according to details shared with Reuters by authorities at Dallas Love Field airport. Details have not yet emerged about where the gunfire came from.
Struck just as the crew were preparing for departure en route to Indianapolis, the aircraft returned immediately to the gate, where the airline has confirmed, it was met by Dallas police and Dallas Fire-Rescue and its passengers and crew were safely deboarded.
Damaged near the cockpit
“Southwest Airlines Flight 2494 was set to depart for Indianapolis when a bullet apparently struck the right side of the plane, just below the flight deck, as the crew was preparing for takeoff,” a Southwest spokesperson said, adding: “No injuries were reported. Law enforcement authorities have been notified and the plane has been removed from service. Southwest accommodated our customers on another flight.”
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has revealed the aircraft involved was a Boeing 737-800 which sustained damage “near the cockpit”. Meanwhile, Dallas Love Field Airport’s media releases announced that runway 13R/31L had been “temporarily” closed, as police carried out an investigation, and had reopened. The airline also sought to reassure customers there was “minimal impact on airline operations.”
Dallas Police Department is leading the ongoing investigation, alongside a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) airport liaison agent “and other federal partners as deemed necessary.” Newsweek is reporting that “the shooter is still at large.”
A rattle outside
NBC Dallas spoke to the Lees, a couple who had been on board with their children, who said the pilot had made an announcement describing “a rattle outside” and told passengers the plane would return to gate to for checks.
When the decision was made to deplane the passengers, “everyone was calm,” the couple said. “I had my son with me. He was sitting in the window seat… And we were just in row 13. So, we were pretty close to the cockpit,” Shannon Lee said.
“Too much of a coincidence”
Aviation expert, and former Navy captain and Naval flight officer, Armen Kurdian, expressed incredulity to the network. “So, my first thought is like, ‘Holy cow, somebody just shot a gun and it hit a commercial aircraft!”
“The fact that it hit so very close to the cockpit seems too much of a coincidence,” he said, speculating that the incident might also prompt security reviews and the introduction of “random sweeps” outside airports and extra “barricades” to deter and detect bad actors targeting commercial aviation.
Southwest is not the only carrier to suffer a shooting incident in recent days. Miami-based Spirit Airlines had to divert a flight from Fort Lauderdale to Port-au-Prince, after it was struck by a bullet near the Haitian capital on 11 November. The flight landed safely in Santiago, Domincan Republic, and only minor injuries to one flight attendant were reported.
