Southwest Airlines Flight 1380 made an emergency landing in Philadelphia after a window, wings and fuselage were damaged in the incident, officials say.
The flight was en route from New York's La Guardia airport to Dallas, Texas, with 143 passengers and five crew.
The last passenger death on a US commercial flight was in 2009.
The Boeing 737-700 in Tuesday morning's incident made a safe landing at 11:20 (15:20 GMT), said fire officials.
The US Federal Aviation Administration has opened an investigation.
