Airlines have suspended flights to Haiti after a Spirit Airlines plane was hit by gunfire just hundreds of feet from landing on Monday.
Spirit Airlines Flight 951 was forced to abort landing in Port-Au-Prince after gangs shot at the aircraft, leaving a flight attendant with minor injuries.
The aircraft was inbound from Fort Lauderdale in Florida, but diverted to Dominican Republic where it landed safely. No passengers were reported injured.
Unverified footage of the incident shared on social media appeared to show several bullet holes on the inside of the aircraft, where the crew sit during take-off and landing.
Aeroport International Toussaint Louverture was forced to ground all commercial flights on Monday as a result of the incident.
Flight trackers showed that both JetBlue and Amerijet cargo planes turned away from Haiti in the wake of the gunfire.
A Spirit Airlines flight has been forced to abort a landing at Port-au-Prince airport after being struck by gunfire
byu/CantStopPoppin inThatsInsane
Footage and photos shared via Reddit show the extent of the damage to the aircraft
Spirit Airlines said in a statement: “Flight 951 from Fort Lauderdale to Port-au-Prince diverted and landed safely in Santiago, Dominican Republic.
“Following the flight’s arrival at Santiago, an inspection revealed evidence of damage to the aircraft consistent with gunfire.”
The airline said the plane has been taken out of service and that a different aircraft would be used to return guests and crew to Fort Lauderdale on Monday.
“The safety of our guests and team members is our top priority, and we have suspended our service at Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haitien pending further evaluation,” Spirit added.
JetBlue and American have also said they will cancel flights to and from Haiti in response to the incident.
According to BBC News, the incident comes as a new prime minister took office in the crisis-hit country, which has been plagued by armed gangs and escalating violence.
In October, gang members opened fire at a UN helicopter, causing some airlines to temporarily cancel flights to Haiti.
