Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Today
Hijacked Plane Departs Cuba
Aired April 01, 2003 - 10:54 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news out of Cuba at this hour. Let's go to our bureau chief there, Lucia Newman, who has the very latest on this hijacking overnight.
What's going on there now, Lucia?
LUCIA NEWMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, just a few seconds ago, the plane finally took off, went into the air after intense negotiations that lasted just up until a few minutes ago. In fact, the police tried until the very last moment to convince the skyjacker to release a small boy. From what we could see from a distance, it looked like a 2 or 3-year-old child. Some food was put on the plane. The doors were shut. The skyjacker refused to release the child. We don't know if it's a relative or not, and the plane finally did take off we presume to Florida.
The skyjacker, you may recall, took this plane at about 9:30 eastern time last night. The pilot radioed in that the man had two grenades and was demanding to be taken to the United States. But there was not enough fuel on the plane, so it had to land in Havana. It was refueled.
Most of the passengers were let off. There were 40 adults, six children in total, including the crew. We saw around 30 people being taken off the plane, put on to buses and taken into the main terminal of the airport. That's all I can tell you for right now.
The plane, if it does go to Florida, should be landing within the next hour.
ZAHN: And, Lucia, there is no indication any of those passengers who were offloaded were hurt or injured in any way, was there?
NEWMAN: No. From what we could see, they seemed to be in good health. We don't know how many, if any of the people that remained on board were actually in cahoots with the skyjacker, or if they were kept as hostages.
ZAHN: And then finally, can you give us any information that you've learned about these negotiations that got very tense overnight?
NEWMAN: Well, the authorities have really been mum. They haven't said a word. They did release a press statement at around midnight, basically accusing the United States of being responsible for this. The Cuban government saying that the United States is showing too much leniency towards skyjackers that come from Cuba. You may remember that less than two weeks ago, another airplane, a DC-3, was skyjacked from the same part of Cuba, from the Isle of Youth, and it did manage to land in Florida with the six skyjackers aboard. They were carrying knives at the time. But this skyjacker apparently has been armed with something far more dangerous, with two grenades, at least according to what the pilot has said.
ZAHN: Lucia Newman, our bureau chief in Havana.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired April 1, 2003 - 10:54 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news out of Cuba at this hour. Let's go to our bureau chief there, Lucia Newman, who has the very latest on this hijacking overnight.
What's going on there now, Lucia?
LUCIA NEWMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, just a few seconds ago, the plane finally took off, went into the air after intense negotiations that lasted just up until a few minutes ago. In fact, the police tried until the very last moment to convince the skyjacker to release a small boy. From what we could see from a distance, it looked like a 2 or 3-year-old child. Some food was put on the plane. The doors were shut. The skyjacker refused to release the child. We don't know if it's a relative or not, and the plane finally did take off we presume to Florida.
The skyjacker, you may recall, took this plane at about 9:30 eastern time last night. The pilot radioed in that the man had two grenades and was demanding to be taken to the United States. But there was not enough fuel on the plane, so it had to land in Havana. It was refueled.
Most of the passengers were let off. There were 40 adults, six children in total, including the crew. We saw around 30 people being taken off the plane, put on to buses and taken into the main terminal of the airport. That's all I can tell you for right now.
The plane, if it does go to Florida, should be landing within the next hour.
ZAHN: And, Lucia, there is no indication any of those passengers who were offloaded were hurt or injured in any way, was there?
NEWMAN: No. From what we could see, they seemed to be in good health. We don't know how many, if any of the people that remained on board were actually in cahoots with the skyjacker, or if they were kept as hostages.
ZAHN: And then finally, can you give us any information that you've learned about these negotiations that got very tense overnight?
NEWMAN: Well, the authorities have really been mum. They haven't said a word. They did release a press statement at around midnight, basically accusing the United States of being responsible for this. The Cuban government saying that the United States is showing too much leniency towards skyjackers that come from Cuba. You may remember that less than two weeks ago, another airplane, a DC-3, was skyjacked from the same part of Cuba, from the Isle of Youth, and it did manage to land in Florida with the six skyjackers aboard. They were carrying knives at the time. But this skyjacker apparently has been armed with something far more dangerous, with two grenades, at least according to what the pilot has said.
ZAHN: Lucia Newman, our bureau chief in Havana.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
