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Bono recalls terrifying day police shot at him
Saturday, 29 August 2009
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A terrifying incident in which Bono and his family were shot at by police in Jamaica has been recalled in a new book.
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.
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Actually, the plane was only hit twice
Posted by VA | 05.09.09, 16:56 GMT
Were they on Jimmy Buffett's plane? I can't imagine that the Jamaican military shot at *two* musicians on different seaplanes in 1996...
Posted by Loren | 03.09.09, 01:34 GMT
He was on singer/songwriter Jimmy Buffett's plane. Buffett recalled the incident in his book "A Pirate Looks at 50" and wrote a song titled "Jamaica Mistaka" about the incident.
Posted by Shannon | 03.09.09, 00:17 GMT
A detail omitted from this article is that the Albatross was owned and piloted by singer Jimmy Buffett at the time. He later wrote the song 'Jamaica Mistaica' about the incident. Maybe one day Bono will also write a song about it!
Posted by John Roche | 02.09.09, 21:52 GMT
Forgot to mention that he was flying in on Jimmy Buffetts plane for which he wrote a song about it, Jamaica Mistaica.
Posted by AC | 02.09.09, 20:16 GMT