Overview:
An IBC Airways airplane skidded off the runway Friday whereas touchdown at Antoine Simon Worldwide Airport in Les Cayes amid heavy rains. The plane, carrying about 10 passengers on a flight from Miami to Haiti’s southern metropolis, skilled braking points on a flooded runway, officers stated. No accidents had been reported.
LES CAYES — A airplane operated by Florida-based provider IBC Airways skidded off the runway Friday afternoon whereas touchdown at Antoine Simon Worldwide Airport in Les Cayes, as heavy rains left the airstrip flooded and dangerous.
The plane, carrying about 10 passengers on a flight from Miami, skilled braking difficulties upon touchdown, in response to airport and firm officers who spoke with The Haitian Instances.
The airplane got here to a cease within the airport’s security zone, with its nostril extending towards Nationwide Street 7, simply outdoors the perimeter fence. No accidents or fatalities had been reported, although passengers had been shaken by the incident.
Because the plane approached Les Cayes—the capital metropolis of the South Division—in heavy rain and low visibility, it was compelled to circle a number of instances earlier than trying to land, a crew member stated.
The airplane finally touched down halfway alongside the runway, lowering the out there braking distance. The pilot, dealing with restricted visibility, struggled to stabilize the method earlier than the plane veered off target, struck a part of the airport fence and exited towards the roadside.
4 different plane had been on the apron on the time however weren’t affected.
The incident occurred as Haiti’s southern area stays underneath a yellow climate alert resulting from forecasts of heavy rainfall.
Restricted air journey choices heighten dangers
The runway tour underscores broader issues about air journey security in Haiti, the place infrastructure limitations and weather-related vulnerabilities proceed to pose dangers.
IBC Airways is presently the one U.S.-based business provider working flights to Haiti, following a Federal Aviation Administration ban on U.S. airways in November 2024 resulting from safety issues. The FAA has prohibited them from flying beneath 10,000 toes over components of the nation close to the capital. The restrictions have been repeatedly prolonged, most not too long ago by September 2026.
IBC launched its Miami–Les Cayes route in November 2025, providing one of many few direct worldwide connections to southern Haiti. Vacationers typically depend on restricted options, together with connections by Cap-Haïtien with Dawn Airways.
The U.S.-based provider marks a historic milestone with its inaugural Miami–Les Cayes route, the primary to attach Haiti’s southern area on to america
With Port-au-Prince largely inaccessible for business flights, regional airports like Les Cayes have taken on elevated visitors—typically with out corresponding upgrades to infrastructure, drainage techniques or runway security circumstances.
Investigation anticipated
An IBC workers member, talking on situation of anonymity as a result of they weren’t approved to remark publicly, stated the airline is conducting inside assessments earlier than issuing an official assertion.
Airport authorities secured the realm following the incident and started evaluating the injury. An investigation is anticipated to find out the precise causes of the runway tour.
Friday’s incident additionally renews issues in regards to the resilience of Haiti’s airport infrastructure, notably in periods of heavy rainfall, when flooding and restricted visibility can considerably improve operational dangers.