MIAMI — Six people were killed after a small airplane crashed Friday in Haiti, just south of the capital, the country's National Office of Civil Aviation said.
The single-engine six-seater aircraft, registered to a South Florida company, left Port-au-Prince at 6:57 p.m. bound for the seaside town of Jacmel in the southeast. It was scheduled to arrive at 7:09 p.m. but crashed on the way in the commune of Leogane in the locality of Mathurin, a section of Beauséjour.
Although the site of the crash was difficult to access, aviation officials, police, first responders and the representative for the area, Paul Joel Felix, worked hard to respond to the crash, the National Office of Civil Aviation said in a statement.
The cause of the crash wasn't immediately reported. Haiti's surging gang violence, which has cut off access to four regions in the south, is increasingly forcing people to find creative ways to travel. Some are taking barges between cities, connecting by water, and others are flying on aircraft landing on dirt strips.
The airplane, with a registration number of N8694N, is registered to Citadelle Holdings LLC of Palmetto Bay, and leased to a Haitian company. The aircraft, a Cherokee Six, is built by Piper.
Philippe Gornail, who is reportedly the owner of the aircraft, said he didn't have any details about the accident.
"I am in contact with the aviation authorities in Haiti and must await their preliminary findings before I can know the details of the accident," he said.
