Three US aircraft were shot at in Haiti on Monday, leading to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) banning flights to the Caribbean republic for one month.
American Airlines, JetBlue and Spirit Airlines planes were all targeted on Monday. The first two were departing when attacked and the damage was only discovered after reaching their destinations in Miami and New York respectively.
The Spirit Airlines plane however was fired at while preparing to land. It came less than 200 metres away from the runway, according to tracking website Flightradar24 when it diverted to neighbouring Dominican Republic, where it landed safely at the Cibao International Airport, in Santiago de los Caballeros.
In the latter incident, a flight attendant was reported to have suffered minor injuries, but no passengers were affected. Apart from the FAA ban, the FBI is also investigating the Spirit Airlines case. “The FBI is aware of the incident and working with our law enforcement partners”, the agency said. “As this is an ongoing matter, we don’t have any further comment.”
Issued on 12 November and valid until 12 December, the FAA Notice to Air Mission (NOTAM) prohibits US air carriers and commercial operators, all persons exercising the privileges of an airman certificate issued by the FAA, except if they are operating US-registered aircraft for a foreign air carrier, and all operators of civil aircraft registered in the United States, except when the operator is a foreign air carrier, “from operating at altitudes from surface up to but not including 10,000 feet (3,048 metres) in the territory and airspace of Haiti due to safety-of-flight risks associated with ongoing security instability.”
The FAA clarifies that some operations that are authorised either by another agency of the United States government with the approval of the FAA or by a deviation, exemption or other authorisation issued by the FAA administrator are exempt from the ban. Additionally, in an emergency requiring immediate decision and action for the safety of the flight, the pilot in command of an aircraft may deviate from the NOTAM to the extent required by that emergency.
Before the NOTAM was issued, JetBlue had already announced it was suspending its flights to Haiti until 2 December. American Airlines also implemented its own suspension, but opted for a longer halt, until February 2025. “Our daily service between Miami and Port-au-Prince has now been suspended through Feb. 12. We will continue to monitor the situation with safety and security top of mind and will adjust our operation as needed”, the carrier said in a statement.
