Spirit Airlines said no passengers were injured during the incident. One flight attendant reported minor injuries but it remains unclear what caused them. Major US airlines have since canceled all flights to Haiti, the Miami Herald reported.
"Spirit Airlines flight 951 from Fort Lauderdale (FLL) to Port-au-Prince (PAP) diverted and landed safely in Santiago, Dominican Republic (STI)," the airlines told the Daily Mail in a statement. "Following the flight's arrival at STI, an inspection revealed evidence of damage to the aircraft consistent with gunfire. One flight attendant on board reported minor injuries and is being evaluated by medical personnel. No guest injuries were reported. The plane has been taken out of service, and we are arranging for a different aircraft to return our guests and crew to FLL. The safety of our guests and team members is our top priority, and we have suspended our service at Port-au-Prince (PAP) and Cap-Haitien (CAP) pending further evaluation."
This marks the second time in the past few weeks that an aircraft has been struck by gunfire while traveling over Haiti's capital. A United Nations helicopter was struck by bullets last month.
The United Nations issued a warning in October that gang violence had led to the internal displacement of over 700,000 Haitians, creating an "extremely fragile" security situation that has been getting worse by the day.
