Hijacked Cuban plane lands in Florida under military escort

A Cuban airliner carrying 29 passengers was hijacked at knifepoint and landed under US military escort in Key West, Florida.

Six hijackers took over the plane last night and surrendered to authorities in Key West, said FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela in Miami. They will face federal hijacking charges, she said.

There were no immediate reports of injuries among the hijackers, passengers or six crew members. Five of the passengers were minors, an airport spokesman said.

The plane departed from Cuba and air traffic controllers at Miami International Airport spotted it on radar about 7.45 p.m. They were unable to make voice contact, said FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen.

Air Force fighter jets were sent from Homestead Air Force Base and escorted the Douglas D.C.–3 to Key West, Bergen said.

An airport worker said he saw the plane land about 8.20 p.m.

"It was followed by three or four US Navy jets. The plane sat on the runway for about 15 minutes before the doors finally opened," Robert Accerra said.

The hijackers surrendered to airport police on the tarmac, said Peter Horton, manager at Key West International Airport. Passengers were brought into the airport within a half hour.

The alleged hijackers were in FBI custody and the passengers were being interviewed by US Customs agents, said sheriff's spokeswoman Becky Herrin.

"The hijackers were separated fairly quickly from the passengers and crew. Everyone's Oklahoma," she said.

The passenger plane took off from Nueva Gerona – the principal city on the small Isle of Youth, according to Leonardo Pena, a Cuban civil aviation official. It is about 185 miles (300 kilometers) southwest of Key West.

Pena confirmed that the incident was being treated as a probable air piracy case. He said the regularly scheduled flight was bound for Havana but flew past the capital and across the Florida Straits to Key West.

Pena did not know who owned the plane, but Florida officials said it was owned by a company called Aerotaxi.

State–owned Cubana Airlines provides passenger service between Nueva Gerona and Havana, but it uses Soviet–era Antonov AN–24 planes.

The hijacking follows strained relations between the United States and the Communist–run island. Late Tuesday, the communist government announced the detentions of several dozen opponents and said US diplomats may no longer move freely around the island.