Another Southwest Airlines flight has been forced to make an emergency landing, this time in Nashville, Tennessee, as a result of a bird strike.

“The captain in command declared an emergency and safely landed the flight,” a spokesperson for the airline said. The airline told CBS News about the Phoenix, Arizona-bound flight: "We've confirmed flight 577 departing Nashville experienced a bird strike shortly after takeoff," adding that its "local Nashville Employees are working diligently to accommodate those passengers on to their destination".

The aircraft has been taken out for service for maintenance just one day after a disastrous emergency landing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania yesterday.

A Southwest plane’s engine had exploded during the flight from New York to Dallas, Texas, and shrapnel from it broke a window, sucking one passenger halfway out. Fellow passengers scrambled to help pull her back in but ultimately Jennifer Riordan, a Wells Fargo bank executive and mother of two from Albuquerque, New Mexico, perished as a result of her injuries. Seven other passengers had suffered minor injuries.

Retired registered nurse Peggy Phillips told a local television station that she performed CPR on Ms Riordan for about 20 minutes until the plane landed in Philadelphia. "If you can possibly imagine going through the window of an airplane at about 600 mph and hitting either the fuselage or the wing with your body, with your face, then I think I can probably tell you there was significant trauma," Ms Phillips said.

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As a result of the Philadelphia incident, the airline said it was accelerating its existing engine inspection program and conducting ultrasonic inspections of fan blades of the CFM56 engines on all of its the 737 jets. Inspections are expected to be completed within 30 days and minimal flight disruptions may result, according to Southwest. The National Transportation Safety Board is also conducting an investigation, which could take 12 to 15 months to complete. Preliminary results concluded that the engine exploded due to "metal fatigue".

Southwest Airlines engine explosion: in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Southwest Airlines engine explosion: in pictures Southwest Airlines engine explosion: in pictures Jennifer Riordan died after being partially sucked out of a shattered plane window following an engine explosion. Reuters/AP Southwest Airlines engine explosion: in pictures Tammie Jo Shults, hero pilot of Southwest 1380, kept calm and saved her passengers. Kristopher Johnson via Reuters Southwest Airlines engine explosion: in pictures Marty Martinez, left, appears with other passengers after a jet engine blew out on the Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 plane. Marty Martinez via AP Southwest Airlines engine explosion: in pictures The window that was shattered after a jet engine of the Southwest Airlines airplane blew out at altitude Marty Martinez via AP Southwest Airlines engine explosion: in pictures A National Transportation Safety Board investigator examines damage to the engine. NTSB via AP Southwest Airlines engine explosion: in pictures Jennifer Riordan, a 43-year-old mother-of-two. Facebook/Jennifer Riordan via Reuters Southwest Airlines engine explosion: in pictures The Southwest Airlines jet sits on the runway at Philadelphia International Airport after it was forced to land with an engine failure. AFP/Getty Images Southwest Airlines engine explosion: in pictures Pennsylvania Game Commission employees recover a piece of the Southwest Airline engine covering that landed in Penn Township, Berks County. AP Southwest Airlines engine explosion: in pictures Tammie Jo Shults was hailed a hero by passengers. Southwest Airlines engine explosion: in pictures The window that was shattered. Marty Martinez via AP Southwest Airlines engine explosion: in pictures A National Transportation Safety Board investigator photographs a Southwest Airline engine covering that landed in Penn Township AP Southwest Airlines engine explosion: in pictures The exploded engine of Southwest Airlines flight 1380 during the flight from a passenger's window. Cassie Adams via Reuters Southwest Airlines engine explosion: in pictures US Navy Lieutenant Tammie Jo Shults in front of a Navy F/A-18A in 1992. US Navy/Handout via Reuters Southwest Airlines engine explosion: in pictures Damage to the Southwest Airlines plane after Jennifer Riordan died when the jet blew an engine at 32,000ft. PA Southwest Airlines engine explosion: in pictures Emergency personnel monitor the damaged engine. Reuters

Further details on the Nashville landing have not been released as yet, but plane engines are designed to withstand the impact of one bird and pilots are able to fly with one engine. Though, a strike can disable an engine and given the length of the flight to Phoenix, that may have been what prompted the emergency landing. While bird strikes are not incredibly common, engine manufacturers and pilots design and train to take them into account.

Patrick Smith, a US pilot and author of the book Cockpit Confidential, told The Telegraph last year: “Birds don't clog an engine but can bend or fracture the internal blades, causing power loss. The heavier the bird, the greater the potential for harm. Flying at 250 knots (the maximum allowable below 10,000 feet, where most birds are found) hitting an average-sized goose will subject the plane to an impact force of over 50,000 pounds. Even small birds pose a threat if struck en masse".