Crime & Safety
FL Plane Hit In Haitian Gang Shooting, Attendant Injured: Reports
A Spirit Airlines flight was attempting to land in Port-au-Prince when it became the target of a gang shooting in Haiti, media reports say.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI — A Spirit Airlines commercial flight from Fort Lauderdale was struck by gunfire in a Haitian gang shooting Monday as it was about to land in Port-au-Prince, according to media reports.
A flight attendant suffered minor injuries from debris during the shooting, and the plane was re-routed to the Dominican Republic, CBS News reported. Flight 951 was carrying 48 passengers as it safely landed in Santiago, the news outlet reported.
Reports say at least one photo posted to X appears to show bullet holes in the interior of the airplane.
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The shooting shut down Port-au-Prince's Toussaint Louverture International Airport and caused JetBlue and American Airlines to cancel flights to and from Haiti, the Associated Press reported.
Local police had been exchanging gunfire with suspected gangs in parts of Port-au-Prince, the Associated Press reported. Accused gangs also set fire to homes, and panic forced schools to close, the news outlet reported.
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"Airlines really need to make sure that they understand that these sorts of things can happen in some of these countries where we have political unrest, where we have violence," said Robert Sumwalt, a former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, in the CBS report.
Read more via CBS News and the Associated Press.
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