It has now been confirmed that two US commercial passenger planes were hit by gunfire close to Port-au-Prince Airport in Haiti on Monday morning, just as the gang-ridden country swore in a new Prime Minister who has promised to restore peace.
Just hours after a horrifying video emerged of a Spirit Airlines plane ridden with what appeared to be bullet holes as it tried to land in Haiti, second US carrier JetBlue confirmed that one of its planes had also been struck by gunfire as it departed Haiti early on Monday morning.
In a short statement, a spokesperson for JetBlue said flight 935 to New York JFK departed Port-au-Prince at around 6 am on November 11, and the flight crew were initially unaware of any issues.
After landing in New York, however, a post-flight inspection revealed evidence of what appears to be a bullet hole in the fuselage of the Airbus A320.
“We are actively investigating this incident in collaboration with relevant authorities,” a statement from the airline said. “Our top priority remains the safety and well-being of our customers and crewmembers.”
The statement continued: “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.”
The update from JetBlue came just hours after Spirit Airlines confirmed that one of its flight attendants was injured when flight NK-951 from Fort Lauderdale was sprayed with bullets as it came into land at Port-au-Prince at around 11 am on Monday.
The bullets penetrated the fuselage, and video footage showed bullet holes in overhead lockers and close to an emergency exit at the aft of the Airbus A320.
In that incident, the pilots immediately diverted to Santiago in the neighboring Dominican Republic, where the plane was taken out of service. Spirit arranged a new plane to repatriate the passengers and crew back to the United States.
Some reports suggest that the flight attendant was injured when they were grazed by a bullet, although this has not been confirmed by the airline.
Heavy fighting erupted between gangs and security services throughout Port-au-Prince on Monday as the country prepared to inaugurate a new interim Prime Minister who has promised to end the civil unrest that has plagued Haiti for years.
Gangs now control around 80% of Port-au-Prince, and the city’s Toussaint Louverture International Airport was temporarily shuttered on Monday as gangs attempted to seize control of the airfield.
At this point I don’t know why any airline would risk flying to that airport. Just the cost of fixing some bullet holes in those planes has to be expensive if they are just looking at revenue.