HAITI’S international airport was forced to shut down after gangs opened fire at a passenger plane.
The Spirit Airlines flight from Florida was struck by bullets as it went to touch down Port-au-Prince’s Toussaint Louverture International Airport.
Twitter/XBullet holes in overhead lockers on the Spirit Airlines plane[/caption]
A flight attendant was injured as gangs sprayed the plane – which had come from Fort Lauderdale – with gunfire on Monday.
Footage circulating on social media appears to show a hole where a bullet entered the aircraft near the rear door and hit overheard lockers.
Flight 951 was diverted and landed in the Dominican Republic instead.
The air steward was checked over for minor injuries, and no passengers were harmed.
Spirit Airlines said the damaged plane has been taken out of commission.
Authorities at the airport were forced to ground all commercial flights.
Flight tracking showed passenger planes and cargo jets turning away from Haiti.
A second plane also came under fire just a short time later.
The JetBlue flight was about to take off from the tarmac and head to New York when gangs opened fire.
It arrived later than scheduled and a post-flight inspection revealed the aircraft’s exterior had been hit.
JetBlue has halted all flights to Haiti until December 2 while the shooting is investigated.
A spokesman said: “We are actively investigating this incident in collaboration with relevant authorities.”
Spirit said it had suspended flights to Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haitien, in Haiti’s north, “pending further evaluation.”
The passengers aboard the Spirit flight on Monday will be taken back in another aircraft to Fort Lauderdale, where the flight departed from.
Armed gangs in Haiti’s capital have shot at aircraft in recent weeks as the security situation deteriorates.
Last month, a UN helicopter was hit by gunfire over Port-au-Prince.
In other parts of Haiti’s capital on Monday, firefights between gangs and police have broken out.
Rounds of gunfire echoed through the streets as heavily armed officers ducked behind walls and civilians ran in terror.
In other upper-class areas, gangs set fire to homes. Schools closed as panic spread in a number of areas.
The turmoil comes a day after a council meant to re-establish democratic order in the Caribbean nation fired the interim prime minister Garry Conille, replacing him with businessman Alix Didier Fils-Aim.
The council has been marked by infighting and three members were recently accused of corruption.
As he was sworn in, Fils-Aim said his top priorities were to restore peace to the crisis-stricken nation and hold elections, which haven’t been held in Haiti since 2016.
He said: “There is a lot to be done to bring back hope. “I’m deeply sorry for the people… that have been victimised, forced to leave everything they own.”
The country has seen weeks of political chaos, which observers warned could result in even more violence in a place where bloodshed has become the new normal.
APA Spirit Airlines plane. Stock picture[/caption]
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