Airliner bound for Port-au-Prince hit by gunfire

Photo: Daniel Slim Archives Agence France-Presse A Spirit Airlines plane, January 8, 2024

Agence France-Presse in Miami

Published at 3:07 p.m. Updated at 3:14 p.m.

• Americas

A Spirit Airlines plane bound for Port-au-Prince was hit by gunfire and diverted to the Dominican Republic, the airline said Monday, reporting one minor injury.

Flight 951, which departed from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was diverted to Santiago, where an inspection “revealed evidence of damage to the aircraft consistent with gunfire,” the U.S. low-cost carrier said.

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Spirit Airlines said it was suspending flights to the gang-wracked Caribbean country “pending further assessment.”

According to the Miami Herald Monday when it landed at the Port-au-Prince airport.

“A crew member reported minor injuries and is being examined by a medical team,” but no passengers were injured, the Spirit Airlines statement added.

The plane was grounded and another plane is due to take the passengers back to Fort Lauderdale during the day, the company added.

American Airlines has also suspended its flights from Miami to Port-au-Prince until Thursday, it confirmed to AFP.

In late October, several companies, including Spirit Airlines, had already suspended their connections to Haiti due to a resurgence of gang violence in the Haitian capital.

Prime Minister sacked

This incident comes against the backdrop of a new political crisis.

On Sunday, the Presidential Transitional Council decided to dismiss the prime minister, who has been in office for only five months, and a new leader, Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, is due to take office soon.

Haiti has suffered from chronic political instability for decades. But in recent months, the poor Caribbean country has also been facing a resurgence of gang violence, which controls 80 percent of the capital, Port-au-Prince.

The UN secretary-general on Monday called on Haitian political actors to “overcome their differences” and “work together.”

More details to follow.