PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) -A Spirit Airways (NYSE:) flight destined for the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince was struck by gunfire on Monday, forcing it to be diverted to the neighboring Dominican Republic.
Spirit stated in a press release that the airplane had been broken and brought out of fee upon touchdown within the northern Dominican metropolis of Santiago.
A flight attendant was injured within the incident, Spirit stated. The Miami Herald had reported that the attendant was grazed by a bullet.
No passengers have been injured, Spirit added.
A video circulating on social media, which seems to have been taken by a Spirit worker however which Reuters was unable to right away confirm, exhibits the place a bullet had come by way of close to the again exit door to then strike the overhead bin throughout the aisle.
All flights out and in of the Toussaint Louverture Worldwide Airport in Port-au-Prince have been halted, the U.S. embassy to the Caribbean nation stated in a journey advisory.
The embassy “is aware of gang-led efforts to block travel to and from Port-au-Prince which may include armed violence, and disruptions to roads, ports and airports,” it stated.
Spirit stated that it had suspended flights to Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haitien, in Haiti’s north, “pending further evaluation.”
JetBlue and American Airways (NASDAQ:) will cancel flights by way of Thursday, they stated individually, and can monitor to find out whether or not extra cancellations could also be wanted.
The passengers aboard the Spirit flight on Monday shall be taken again in one other plane to Fort Lauderdale, the place the flight departed from, Spirit stated.
Armed gangs in Haiti’s capital have shot at plane in current weeks because the safety state of affairs deteriorates. Final month, a U.N. helicopter was hit by gunfire over Port-au-Prince.
