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The FAA is considering banning US flights to Haiti after planes were hit by gunfire
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The FAA is considering banning US flights to Haiti after planes were hit by gunfire

The Federal Aviation Administration is urgently considering banning U.S. flights to Haiti in the wake of Monday’s gunfire incidents. A decision is expected Tuesday, according to several officials.

The move was said to come after a Spirit Airlines plane flying from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Haiti was diverted after it was struck by gunfire while trying to land in Port-au-Prince, according to the Haitian National Bureau of Investigation Civil aviation.

The plane was hit four times by gunfire as it tried to land at Touissant Louverture airport in the capital Port-au-Prince, OFNAC said.

A police officer patrols outside Toussaint Louverture International Airport after airlines suspend flights, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, October 25, 2024.

Ralph Tedy Erol/Reuters

The Spirit Airlines plane “perished and landed safely in Santiago, Dominican Republic,” Spirit Airlines said in a statement Monday, adding that no passengers reported injuries and that one flight attendant on board the plane suffered unspecified “minor injuries” reported and underwent medical evaluation.

According to data from FlightRadar24, the plane came within 170 meters of the runway before aborting the landing and diverting to the Dominican Republic.

File image of the Spirit Airlines plane taking off from Los Angeles International Airport.

STOCK PHOTO/Adobe Stock

The FAA confirmed in a statement Monday that the Spirit Airlines flight landed safely in the Dominican Republic “after the aircraft was reportedly damaged by gunfire while attempting to land” at the Port-au-Prince airport.

A JetBlue flight from Haiti to New York City was also struck by a bullet on Monday, the airline said in a statement to ABC News. JetBlue said it would suspend all flights to and from Haiti through Dec. 2 due to civil unrest in the country.

ABC News’ Aicha El Hammar Castano contributed to this report.