The recent attempted kidnapping of three air traffic controllers near the international airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, is raising concerns about the safety of the Caribbean country’s airspace.
The International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers’ Association, in a statement posted on its website, said it is “gravely concerned” following the armed attack, which took place Saturday afternoon near Toussaint Louverture International Airport in the capital, while the employees were being transported to work.
Following the incident, which left one air traffic controller with a gunshot wound to the leg and in need of surgery, Haiti’s National Office of Civil Aviation, OFNAC, has been using unqualified and unlicensed individuals to control the country’s skies, said Trish Gilbert, executive vice president for the Americas region of the air traffic controllers’ association. The independent professional organization, which is based in Montreal, represents more than 50,000 air traffic controllers in 133 countries.
