Gunfire strikes Southwest plane on tarmac of Dallas airport, officials say
No one was injured when a Southwest Airlines flight carrying passengers was shot at on the tarmac at Dallas Love Field Airport late Friday, authorities said.
Southwest Flight 2494 was preparing to depart for Indianapolis when “a bullet apparently struck the right side of the aircraft below the flight deck,” a Southwest spokesman told CBS News in a statement.
The airline said no one was injured. A spokesman for Dallas Love Field said in an email that the plane returned to the gate and passengers disembarked after damage caused by a “security incident.” The runway was also temporarily closed but later reopened.
Dallas police confirmed the incident, saying officers arrived after receiving a report of gunfire at 9:48 pm local time and found that the plane had been hit.
No further details were provided about the circumstances of the incident or the potential source of the gunfire. It’s unclear how many people were on the plane at the time or how much damage was sustained.
The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement provided to CBS News that the Boeing 737-800 aircraft “was reportedly struck by gunfire near the cockpit.”
Dallas police are leading the investigation into the incident.
Gunfire erupted in ongoing gang violence earlier this week hit three planes The planes were either landing or leaving the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince. The shooting prompted the FAA to issue a 30-day ban on U.S. airlines flying to Haiti.
