Two U.S. commercial planes were struck by gunfire over Port-au-Prince, prompting federal officials to suspend flights to Haiti for 30 days amid escalating violence in the Caribbean nation.
A Spirit Airlines crew member suffered minor injuries Monday when gunfire hit their aircraft during landing at Port-au-Prince International Airport. JetBlue Airways later discovered bullet damage during a post-flight inspection in New York on a plane returning from Haiti.
The Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday banned U.S. civil aviation activities below 10,000 feet in Haitian airspace for the next month. Haitian authorities had already suspended flights at Port-au-Prince airport until Nov. 18.
The United Nations also grounded its planes in Haiti, disrupting humanitarian aid efforts.
“All UN flights have been suspended, obviously limiting the flow of humanitarian aid and humanitarian personnel into the country,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Tuesday. He added that more than a dozen trucks carrying food and medical supplies to southern Haiti were delayed.
The aviation crisis coincides with Haiti’s political transition. Alix Didier Fils-Aime was sworn in Monday as prime minister by the transitional council.
“We are in a transition, an immense project. Of course, the essential first project — and one necessary to the success of the transition — is the reestablishment of security!” Fils-Aime said at the ceremony.
