A Spirit Airlines plane flying from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Haiti was diverted after it was struck by gunfire while attempting to land in Port-au-Prince, the Haitian National Office of Civil Aviation (OFNAC) told ABC News.
The plane was struck by gunfire four times while attempting to land at Touissant Louverture Airport in the capital city of Port-au-Prince, OFNAC said.
The Spirit Airlines plane "diverted and landed safely in Santiago, Dominican Republic," Spirit Airlines said in a statement Monday, adding that no passengers reported injuries and one flight attendant onboard the plane reported unspecified "minor injuries" and was undergoing medical evaluation.
The plane came within 550 feet of the runway before aborting its landing and diverting to the Dominican Republic, according to data on FlightRadar24.
After the plane arrived in the Dominican Republic, "an inspection revealed evidence of damage to the aircraft consistent with gunfire," the Spirit Airlines statement said. The plane was taken out of service and a different aircraft was secured to return the passengers and crew to Fort Lauderdale, the statement added.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed in a statement that the Spirit Airlines flight landed safely in the Dominican Republic "after the plane was reportedly damaged by gunfire while trying to land" at the Port-au-Prince airport.
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