Bono Recalls the Jamaica Mistaica Incident

The Belfast Telegraph has an article that includes excerpts from a book that details U2 singer Bono’s experience onboard the Hemisphere Dancer during the Jamaica Mistaica incident:

The U2 singer, his wife Ali and their children Jordan and Eve, then aged just six and three, were lucky to escape with their lives after 100 rounds of bullets were fired at them.

They had flown into the Caribbean country on an Albatross World War Two seaplane for a holiday in January 1996.

But as they were landing authorities mistook them for drug smugglers and fired a hail of bullets while the family was disembarking.

The plane was hit at least seven times.

Bono said at the time: “I don’t know how we came through it.

“These boys were shooting all over the place.

“I felt as if we were in the middle of a James Bond movie — only this was real.

“It was absolutely terrifying and I honestly thought we were all going to die.

“Thank God we were safe and sound. My only concern was for their safety.

“It was very scary, let me tell you.

“You can’t believe the relief I felt when I saw the kids were okay.”

The incident has been recalled in a new book, Stop The Press: An Inside Story Of The Tabloids In Ireland, written by journalist John Kierans.

Bono, Ali and their children dived for cover fearing they were about to be killed, but miraculously survived unhurt.

Bono was so shocked that he and his family left Jamaica and flew straight to Miami, Florida.