Humanitarian aid to Haiti on hold as FAA flight ban grounds Venice-based group
A Bay Area group that delivers cargo and humanitarian aid to Caribbean countries, including Haiti, has had to put their missionary work on pause.
The FAA banned all flights in and out of Haiti for 30 days Tuesday after three airlines say their planes were hit by gunfire.
Agape Flights, based out of Venice , had a crew in Haiti when the FAA announced its temporary ban. They brought that crew home earlier this week, Greg Haman, Director of Flight Operations for Agape, said.
The FAA's 30-day ban comes after a Spirit Airlines flight from Fort Lauderdale was hit by gunfire Monday as it was about to land in the capital of Port-au-Prince. A flight attendant was injured.
American Airlines and JetBlue also said their planes were also shot near the airport in Port-au-Prince earlier this week.
The United Nations is temporarily suspending flights to the capital, too, which will limit humanitarian aid coming into the country.
Agape helps deliver life-saving medical supplies, clothes, food and other resources to more than 300 different missionary groups across Haiti, the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas.
"I have no idea how they're going to get some of those things," Haman said. "I don't know that they know how they're going to get some of those things," he said. "We have applied for exemption and hopefully that'll come down before too long."
Haman said they have applied for a humanitarian waiver to try to fly back to Haiti. It could be days or longer, though, before they hear back.
Earlier this year, Agape's flights were put on hold from the end of February until mid-March because Haitian authorities shut down every airport in the country due to growing violence and unrest there.
The U.S. Embassy in Haiti advises those with affected flights to contact their airlines. Embassy officials warn the security situation in Haiti is "unpredictable and dangerous," and said traveling within the island is at travelers' own risk.
