Two Cuban pilots fled to Florida, in the United States, in a motorized hang glider that provided tourist services in Playas del Este in Havana, local media reported this Sunday.
As reported by the Cuban Aviation Club, in a statement cited by the media, the pilots landed on Saturday at the Key West airport, in South Florida, aboard an ultralight “Trike.”
The state club denounced the incident as a “frank violation of Cuban airspace” and the theft of equipment, while describing the pilots as deserters.
In addition, it conveyed to the “corresponding international authorities its disagreement with facts like these” and asked that the perpetrators of the act be applied “the sanctions corresponding to the seriousness of the case” and that “the stolen equipment” be returned.
The two Cubans were detained as soon as they entered US territory, after a flight of less than two hours, and were left in the custody of the border patrol, now running the risk of being deported, according to Florida media.
Last October, a Cuban pilot flew a Russian-made single-engine Antonov An-2 biplane from Sancti Spíritus (central Cuba) and landed at an airport in South Florida. He was detained, but the judge granted him asylum.
In fiscal year 2022, which runs from October 1, 2021 to September 30, 2022, 6,182 Cuban migrants were intercepted in the waters of the Florida Straits, compared to 838 in the same period last year.
Another 224,607 Cuban migrants arrived at the southern border with Mexico in the same period.
From October to date, 5,862 Cubans have been intercepted by the United States Coast Guard.
Source: TSF
