FAA bans US airlines from flying into Haiti for 30 days after gunfire hit Spirit, JetBlue

All U.S. airlines and other and commercial operators have been banned from flying into Haiti for at least 30 days, the Federal Aviation Administration announced Tuesday.

The decision came a day after a Spirit Airlines and JetBlue Airways flights sustained gunfire over Port-au-Prince airspace on Monday. The Spirit flight was a mile east of Toussaint Louverture International Airport when it was fired upon and the JetBlue fight had just taken off and was bound for New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. No passengers were injured, the airlines said, but a spokesperson for Spirit said that a flight attendant sustained minor injuries.

In response to the incident, JetBlue announced cancellation of flights until Dec. 2, while American Airlines said flights would be canceled until Thursday. Spirit, which canceled flights out of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport into both Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haitien, said flights were canceled pending an investigation of the shooting.

The FAA issued the Notice to Air Mission, known as a NOTAM, prohibiting U.S. civil aviation operations in the territory and airspace of Haiti below 10,000 feet after initially issuing the prohibition until Monday.

The notice applies to all operators of civil aircrafts registered in the United States except when the operator of such an aircraft is a foreign air carrier. Exceptions are made for emergencies and flights authorized by the U.S. government or agency with approval of the FAA.

Haitian leaders have not said anything about the shootings which occurred during a day in which police and gangs were engaged in several firefight, and after members of a gang coalition threatened violence after the ruling presidential council over the weekend ousted Prime Minister Garry Conille and tapped businessman Alix Didier Fils-Aime to replace him.

Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader on Monday called the shooting on the airplanes an act of terrorism.