WORLD : Haitian Hijacker of Stationary, Empty Jet Flies Coop Unscathed
A soldier who held an empty commercial jet for three days, threatening to blow it up unless he was flown to the United States, jumped out of the plane early today and escaped, a radio station reported.
Privately owned Radio Haiti-Inter said Pvt. Gerald Pierre, 20, fled the American Airlines Airbus A300 about 1:10 a.m.
Although officials gave no immediate explanation of how the soldier got away, there was speculation that the army allowed him to escape as a way to resolve peacefully the three-day siege, which had closed the international airport. Pierre was trying to desert after being reprimanded by an officer for alleged insubordination, radio reports said.
Pierre had allowed passengers and crew members to leave the New York-bound Flight 658 on Monday shortly after commandeering the jet. On Tuesday, he threatened to blow up the plane unless he was flown to the United States, Radio Haiti-Inter said.
Soldiers and police were guarding the airport but had not surrounded the 10-foot-high perimeter fence, and Pierre could have fled over an unguarded portion of it.
Officials reopened the airport today. It was closed Wednesday after Pierre fired a machine gun in the direction of a Haiti Trans-Air flight shortly after it landed on a flight from Miami.
The U.S. Embassy said American Airlines will send investigators to examine the jet before it leaves the airport.
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