November 11, (THEWILL) – A Spirit Airlines flight 951, from Fort Lauderdale in Florida to Port-au-Prince in Haiti was hit by gunfire on Monday, forcing it to be diverted to the neighbouring Dominican Republic.
Spirit said in a statement that the plane had been damaged and taken out of commission upon landing in the northern Dominican city of Santiago, adding that a flight attendant was injured in the incident. The Miami Herald had reported that the attendant was grazed by a bullet.
“One Flight Attendant on board reported minor injuries and is being evaluated by medical personnel. No Guest injuries were reported”, the statement said.
Spirit said it is suspending its services to Haiti pending “evaluation” of the incident and that the plane was being taken out of service for the time being. A return flight to Florida is being arranged for members of the crew and the passengers, who were diverted to the Dominican Republic, it added.
Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s main international airport, has since paused operations following the incident.
The Haitian-based commercial airline, Sunrise Airways, has suspended flights until further notice. US-based carriers, JetBlue and American Airlines, have also cancelled flights to and from Haiti until Thursday.
“We will continue to monitor the situation with safety and security top of mind and will adjust our operation as needed”, American Airlines said.
Haiti has been ridden with widespread gang activity and political chaos for nearly a year, with international actors also impacted by direct violence in recent weeks. Last month, a United Nations helicopter was also hit by bullets while flying over Port-au-Prince. And in a separate incident in October, gangs targeted US embassy vehicles with gunfire, later prompting the evacuation of 20 embassy staffers.
The State Department issued an alert on Monday, from the US Embassy in Port-au-Prince, saying it was aware of a pause in operations at the city’s airport.
