- KEY WEST -- Just as
the deadline for military action in Iraq approached, Key West heard the
sounds of Air Force fighter jets overhead -- but it had nothing to do with
the conflict in the Middle East.
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- A Cuban Douglas DC-3 Aerotaxi plane carrying 29 passengers,
reportedly hijacked by six people, landed under military escort at the
Key West International Airport Wednesday around 8 p.m.
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- The six hijackers surrendered to authorities, an FBI
spokesperson in Miami confirmed. They will be facing federal hijacking
charges, the Associated Press reported. Key West Police Public Information
Officer Steve Torrence said the hijackers wielded knives and threatened
the pilots. He said no one was hurt in the incident.
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- "There was no violence," Torrence said.
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- Air traffic controllers at the Miami International Airport
saw the plane on radar around 7:45 p.m. and were unable to make voice contact,
FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said.
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- Air force fighter jets were scrambled from Homestead
Air Force Base and provided military escort to the Key West Airport.
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- The passengers, including women and three to four children,
were released about a half-hour after landing and escorted into the Customs
Office at the airport. Early reports indicated at least one of the passengers
was not Cuban and that five of the passengers were minors.
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- One official who asked not to be identified said some
of the passengers were asking for political asylum.
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- The alleged hijackers were detained and were being questioned
by U.S. Customs agents. The case is now in the hands of the Federal Bureau
of Investigations, Torrence said.
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- A U.S. Customs Blackhawk helicopter guarded the plane
as it sat on the runway near the Cape Air office. It was moved closer to
the main airport building around 9:45 p.m.
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- The Key West Police Department Special Response Team
responded along with the U.S. Navy and members of the Monroe County Sheriff's
Office. Key West officers who arrived on the scene said some of the passengers
looked relieved, while others appeared somewhat upset.
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- "The hijackers were separated fairly quickly from
the passengers and crew. Everyone's OK," Monroe County Sheriff's Deputy
and spokesperson Becky Herrin said.
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- The Aerotaxi plane -- white and blue with a red stripe
down the middle, a Cuban flag painted on the cockpit side -- is normally
used to escort tourists around the island. This particular aircraft originated
from the Isle of Youth off Cuba's southwestern coast, taking off from Nueva
Gerona.
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- Leonardo Pena, a Cuban aviation official, said the incident
was being treated as a possible piracy case.
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- One man who was traveling in an American Airlines plane
that arrived directly behind the hijacked aircraft said he did not see
anything up close, but that the pilot told them a defection was occurring.
He said the airport was closed for a short period of time.
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- As word quickly spread of the plane's surprise landing,
a crowd of onlookers -- many of them members of Key West's Cuban community
-- grew by the hour and watched from a distance. Some cheered as the aircraft
was brought closer to the gate.
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- The hijacking follows several recent incidents indicating
rough relations between the United States and Cuba. On Tuesday, Cuba said
it was prepared to try dozens of dissidents it accuses of being traitors
for working with James Cason, head of Washington's diplomatic mission in
Havana. Cuban President Fidel Castro recently chastised Cason for allowing
dissident journalists to use his residence for a meeting. At least a dozen
of those reportedly being detained are independent journalists.
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- The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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