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Southwest Airlines flight forced to land after bird strike day after plane engine explodes

Published  April 18, 2018 8:32pm EDT
U.S.
FOX 5 Atlanta

PHOENIX - A Southwest Airlines flight was forced to land in Nashville Wednesday morning after experiencing a bird strike shortly after takeoff. The incident comes a day after a Southwest Airlines plane engine exploded, killing a passenger.

It's something none of us want to hear while on a plane: a loud noise of any kind. That's what happened to some 70 passengers who boarded an early morning flight from Nashville to Phoenix on Wednesday.

Some of the passengers on flight 577 heard the noise and felt it when it happened.

"It was a super loud, vibrating noise.. was a little alarmed, but I was trying to be cool," said a passenger.

"Right as we took off, it just started vibrating.. couldn't tell that it hit anything."

"You could tell when we took off there was a small shake in the engine.. you could tell there was something wrong. It wasn't a big deal, really."

A little bird turned into a big deal for this Boeing 737, forcing the pilot to return the flight to Nashville International Airport. The strike happened several minutes after takeoff.

We spoke to passengers who said most people barely knew what was happening.

"No one really.. most people were sleeping and relaxed and until he said hey, we're going to turn around and go back, no one really knew anything."

The flight returned safely to the airport and people were put on a different plane.

Phoenix passengers arrived at Sky Harbor Airport about two hours behind schedule. Some of them told us in light of April 17th's tragedy involving a Southwest Airlines passenger, they were a little tense flying.

"News the day before you get on a plane.. the same plane.. it happened so it does worry you."

"I think after yesterday, everyone was just happy to be on the ground."

Passengers said that Southwest Airlines, in an effort to make up for the inconvenience, gave each passenger $200 vouchers for future travel, so that went a long way in soothing any ruffled feathers.

FOXNews.com contributed to this report.