"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 in an emailed statement to Reuters.

A Southwest Airlines flight with passengers onboard was struck by gunfire as it was preparing to take off at Dallas Love Field Airport in Texas, authorities said. Flight 2494 was preparing for departure to Indianapolis when "a bullet apparently struck the right side of the aircraft under the flight deck",

The Texas incident comes just days after JetBlue Airways, Spirit Airlines and American Airlines halted flights to Haiti after two aircraft were hit by bullets amid the gang violence escalating in the country.