A Cuban Plane Goes Down! When Will It End ?

September 19, 2000, The Coast Guard Seventh District Command center received a call from Miami Center at approximately 10:40 a.m. of a plane that had been hijacked in Cuba and was headed west towards the Yucatan Peninsula. At approximately 10:50 a.m., the hijacked plane, an Antonov AN-2, was reported by Miami Center down in the water, 60 miles southwest of Marquesas Key, Fla. It was reported that there was 18 people on board. The Coast Guard immediately responded. The Coast Guard  Cutter Monhegan, a 110-foot patrol boat home ported in Key West, Fla., and a Coast Guard HU-25 Falcon jet from Air Station Miami was sent out. 

Approximately 1:45 p.m nine survivors and one victim were recovered from the water by the Motor Vessel Chios Dream, which rendezvous with the Cruise Ship Tropicale. The nine survivors were rescued approximately 60 miles west of the west end of Cuba. The nine survivors included three men, three women and three children. One deceased is a male adult. The 10 were confirmed through reports from the survivors, that no others were on board the downed plane.

One male survivor has been reported to have severe head trauma, he was medically evacuated by the Coast Guard HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter and transferred to Key West International Airport, Fla. where an ambulance transferred the patient to Lower Florida Keys Hospital.