Port-au-Prince: A Spirit Airlines flight destined for the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince was struck by gunfire on Monday (November 11), 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. A flight attendant was injured in the incident, Spirit said. The Miami Herald had reported that the attendant was grazed by a bullet. No passengers were injured, Spirit added.
Spirit said that it had suspended flights to Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haitien, in Haiti’s north, “pending further evaluation.” The passengers aboard the Spirit flight on Monday will be taken back in another aircraft to Fort Lauderdale, where the flight departed from, Spirit said.
VIDEO: Spirit Airlines flight struck by gunfire
JetBlue Airways cancels flights to Haiti
Later, JetBlue Airways said it would extend a halt to all flights to and from Haiti through December 2 after damage from a bullet to a plane returning from Port-au-Prince was discovered.
That incident had prompted JetBlue and American Airlines to cancel all flights through Thursday. JetBlue said its Flight 935 arrived later on Monday in New York without reporting any issues but a post-flight inspection later identified that the aircraft’s exterior had been struck by a bullet. “We are actively investigating this incident in collaboration with relevant authorities,” JetBlue said, citing the ongoing civil unrest in Haiti in its decision to extend flight cancellations through early December.
Armed gangs in Haiti’s capital have shot at aircraft in recent weeks as the security situation deteriorates. Last month, a UN helicopter was hit by gunfire over Port-au-Prince. Dominican President Luis Abinader said his country will treat Haitian gangs as “terrorist gangs” and urged the United States to declare them in the same terms.
Haiti violence
In other parts of Haiti’s capital, firefights between gangs and police broke out. Rounds of gunfire echoed through the streets as heavily armed officers ducked behind walls and civilians ran in terror. In other upper-class areas, gangs set fire to homes. Schools closed as panic spread in a number of areas.
The turmoil comes a day after a council meant to reestablish democratic order in the Caribbean nation fired the interim prime minister Garry Conille, replacing him with businessman Alix Didier Fils-Aimé. The council has been marked by infighting and three members were recently accused of corruption. As he was sworn in, Fils-Aime said his top priorities were to restore peace to the crisis-stricken nation and hold elections, which haven’t been held in Haiti since 2016.
“There is a lot to be done to bring back hope,” he said before a room of suit-clad diplomats and security officials. “I’m deeply sorry for the people … that have been victimized, forced to leave everything they own.”
(With inputs from agency)
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