Two U.S.-based airlines were struck by gunfire Monday while flying in Haiti’s airspace. One plane, a Spirit Airlines flight, was hit by bullets while attempting to land in Port-au-Prince. The second, New York-bound JetBlue Airways Flight 935, was hit after take off. JetBlue discovered it has been shot at only made after the crew arrived safely at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
“While no issues were initially reported by the operating crew, a post-flight inspection later identified that the aircraft’s exterior had been struck by a bullet,” JetBlue Airways spokesman Derek Dombrowski told the Miami Herald. “We are actively investigating this incident in collaboration with relevant authorities.”
By the end of the day, all three major U.S. carriers that fly into Haiti had announced cancellations of their daily service into the country. In a notice to pilots, the Federal Aviation Administration said that all traffic into Port-au-Prince’s international airport were temporarily suspended at least until Monday, Nov. 18.
Dombrowski said that “due to the ongoing civil unrest in Haiti, we have made the decision to suspend all flights to and from the country through December 2.” Before the discovering of the gunshot, the airline had canceled flights from JFK and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport into Port-au-Prince until Thursday.
“Our top priority remains the safety and well-being of our customers and crewmembers,” he said “We will continue to monitor the situation closely and update our plans as necessary.”
The first incident reported about airplanes being fired upon on Monday involved a Spirit-Airlines flight that left from Fort Lauderdale and was diverted to an airport in the Dominican Republic, where it landed safely.
In response to the incident, the three major U.S. carriers flying into Haiti, including American Airlines, announced they were suspending flights to the Caribbean nation.
“We have suspended our service at Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haïtien pending further evaluation,” a Spirit Airlines spokesperson said in a statement.
The spokesperson confirmed the incident, which occurred as Spirit Airlines Flight 951, out of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, was approaching Toussaint Louverture International Airport from the east. No passengers were injured, but a flight attendant received minor injuries, the spokesperson said. The airplane was diverted and landed safely in Santiago in the neighboring Dominican Republic.
“An inspection revealed evidence of damage to the aircraft consistent with gunfire,” the spokesperson said.
“The plane has been taken out of service, and we are arranging for a different aircraft to return our guests and crew to” Fort Lauderdale, the spokesperson added. “The safety of our guests and team members is our top priority.”
Jean-David Desrouleaux, a Miami resident and passenger aboard the flight, said the aircraft’s wheels were already down when “we could hear clack, clack, clack...the metal inside the plane and the plastic just cracking.”
“A few of us understood what was happening,” he said, noting the flight was partially full and as they sensed the plane pressure changing they knew they had been shot at. The pilot, he said, then circled the Port-au-Prince airport before decided to head to Santiago to land.
The aircraft was about a mile from the airport and was crossing above Clercin, one of the battlegrounds in the country’s ongoing gang war, when it was fired upon, a source with the National Airport Authority said. The source noted that the National Airport Authority has taken measures to secure the perimeter of the airport but has little control over the general security situation of the country, which remains the responsibility of the Haiti National Police.
The incident forced the airport authority at Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Haiti’s capital to ground all commercial flights. Flight tracking showed both JetBlue Airways and Amerijet Cargo planes turning away from Haiti. A Port-au-Prince-bound Air Caraibes flight from France was diverted to Santo Domingo. Late Monday, some of the passengers on the Air Caraibes flight, Haitian nationals with European visas, were allowed to disembark in the Dominican Republic due to the extraordinary circumstances, a source told the Miami Herald, but others were not allowed entry and had to return to France.
“This was a terrorist act; the countries that are following and helping Haiti should declare these armed gangs as terrorist groups,” Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader said Monday about the incident during his regular press conference.
Amanda Maldonado, a spokeswoman with American, also confirmed that “as a result of the unrest in Port-au-Prince,” the airlines has suspended service between Miami International Airport and Toussaint Louverture International Airport through Thursday. “We will continue to monitor the situation with safety and security top of mind and will adjust our operation as needed,” she said.
The incident marks the second time in the last few weeks that an aircraft traveling over Port-au-Prince airspace was struck by gunfire from armed gangs. Last month, a United Nations helicopter was struck by gang gunfire and forced to return to the airport. No one was injured.
The incident on Monday occurred just hours before Haiti’s ruling presidential council was set to swear in a new prime minister, businessman Alix Didier Fils-Aime, after ousting Prime Minister Garry Conille in an executive order that was leaked on Sunday and published on the council’s X account early Monday morning.
Miami Herald Writer Syra Ortiz Blanes contributed to this report.
This story was originally published November 11, 2024 12:40 PM.
