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In 1996, Bono took a much needed holiday with Jimmy Buffett. It ended in an armed stand-off with Jamaican police
In 1996, Jamaican police fired on Jimmy Buffett’s seaplane after suspecting it was involved in drug smuggling. The incident matters because Bono, his family and Island Records president Chris Blackwell were on board, and bullets struck the aircraft, including its windscreen.
Buffett had arrived unannounced near Negril in his Grumman HU-16 Albatross, the Hemisphere Dancer, during a period when drug smuggling was a serious concern on the island. Authorities later apologised; Bono and his family soon flew to Miami, while Buffett turned the episode into the song ‘Jamaica Mistaica’ on his album *Banana Wind*.
In short
- Police mistook Buffett’s plane for a smuggling aircraft.
- Bono and his family were on board.
- Buffett later wrote a song about the incident.