Jets scrambled to intercept hijackers

KEY WEST, Fla., March 20 (UPI) -- Two Air Force F-15 fighter jets were scrambled to intercept a Cuban DC-3 commuter plane that was hijacked from Cuba to Key West, officials said Thursday.

The hijacked plane with 37 people aboard was spotted Wednesday night 30 miles from Key West by the Federal Aviation Administration and was escorted to the local airport by the two fighters from Homestead (Fla.) Air Force Reserve base and a U.S. Customs Blackhawk helicopter.

"The two jets shadowed the plane until it landed in Key West," said Lt. Col. Barry Venable, spokesman for the North American Air Defense Command.

When the commuter plane landed, six people were taken into custody for allegedly used knives to hijack the Aerotaxi flight from Youth Island south of Cuba to Havana.

"There wasn't much force at all. The hijackers were relatively cooperative," said Becky Herrin, spokeswoman for the Monroe County Sheriff's Department.

Although the United States was about to launch a war on Iraq a few hours later, Venable said it was "just another day" for NORAD.

Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, NORAD has detected 1,040 space security incidents.

"None are routine," he said.

Barbara Gonzalez, spokeswoman for the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, said the six suspected hijackers were in custody of the FBI and the remaining 31 were taken to the Krome Avenue Processing Center near Miami.

Some of those are expected to want to return to Cuba and some could remain in the United States.

There have been two similar incidents at Key West recently, and several in past years.

Eight Cubans defected Nov. 11 by taking a Russian-built cargo plane from an airfield and flying to Key West. Two F-15s from Homestead also escorted that plane. The migrants have been released in Miami.

In February, four defectors from Cuba's border guard left their patrol at Havana and took their patrol boat to Key West. They were also released.

They were not spotted before they arrived and after docking the boat, wandered through Key West's business district before finding a police officer so they could surrender.

Aerotaxi is one of four Cuban-owned airlines.