A Spirit Airlines plane diverted to the Dominican Republic, and one crewmember was injured when it was apparently struck by gunfire while attempting to land at Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Monday.
Flight NK951 was on its way from Fort Lauderdale (FLL) to Port-au-Prince when the incident happened, and it safely diverted to Santiago, Dominican Republic (STI).
“Following the flight’s arrival at STI, an inspection revealed evidence of damage to the aircraft consistent with gunfire. One Flight Attendant on board reported minor injuries and is being evaluated by medical personnel. No Guest injuries were reported,” a Spirit Airlines spokesperson told USA TODAY in a statement. “The plane has been taken out of service, and we are arranging for a different aircraft to return our Guests and crew to FLL today. The safety of our Guests and Team Members is our top priority, and we have suspended our service at Port-au-Prince (PAP) and Cap-Haitien (CAP) pending further evaluation.”
A JetBlue flight was also apparently hit by gunfire while departing Haiti on Monday, but it continued safely to New York and the damage was not discovered until after it arrived at JFK, according to the airline.
The Federal Aviation Administration issued a notice on Tuesday that prohibited U.S. airlines and other civilian aircraft from operating below 10,000 feet in Haitian airspace. American Airlines, JetBlue and Spirit, the only U.S. airlines that fly to Haiti, all have travel waivers in effect that allow passengers scheduled to fly to or from the country to change their plans at no additional cost.
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The U.S. State Department issued a Level 4 “Do Not Travel” advisory for Haiti on Sept. 18 due to ongoing civil unrest in the country.
(This story was updated to add new information.)
Zach Wichter is a travel reporter for USA TODAY based in New York. You can reach him at zwichter@usatoday.com.