The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Tuesday announced it has ordered U.S. airlines and other commercial operators to cease flights to Haiti for at least 30 days after three aircraft were hit by gunfire as they flew over the volatile Caribbean nation’s airspace, the Miami Herald reported.
As previously reported by Face2Face Africa, the incidents resulted in Haitian authorities ultimately announcing that they were halting all flights to and from the capital Port-au-Prince. Deadly gang violence has engulfed Haiti for almost a year and also caused widespread displacement.
The FAA issued the temporal ban after Spirit Airlines and JetBlue Airways announced on Monday that their planes had been struck by gunfire as they flew over Haitian airspace. Spirit Airlines said one of its planes was trying to land in Port-au-Prince when it was struck by bullets, adding that a crew member suffered “minor injuries,” per CNN.
The airline company said that the plane had taken off from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but the plane later diverted to the Dominican Republic after it was struck by bullets when it tried to land in Port-au-Prince.
JetBlue in its separate statement said that during a post-flight inspection on one of its planes that landed at the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, it was determined a bullet had struck the aircraft’s exterior.
American Airlines on Tuesday similarly said one of its planes had also been hit by gunfire. The company said it has since temporarily ceased operating flights to Haiti, adding that those services would resume in February.
American Airlines spokeswoman Amanda Maldonado said the plane that was hit by the gunfire arrived at the Miami International Airport on Monday after flying from Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, the Miami Herald reported. After landing back home, it was established the flight plane been struck by a bullet.
“Out of an abundance of caution, a post-flight inspection was completed, indicating the exterior of the aircraft had been impacted by a bullet,” she said. “We are working closely with all relevant authorities to investigate this incident.”
JetBlue said it has since stopped operating flights to Haiti until December 2. Spirit Airlines, on the other hand, said it has canceled all flights to Haiti pending the outcome of an investigation into the shooting.
The FAA’s ban does not apply to emergency trips and flights sanctioned by the U.S. government or agency. Those flights, however, have to be approved by the FAA.
Kesner Pharel, a Port-au-Prince economist, told the Miami Herald that authorities shutting down the airport and the main seaport will exacerbate Haiti’s economic situation.
“Fewer people coming in the country mean less money flowing through the economy,” Pharel said, adding that it would cause “extreme poverty and misery.”
