In January 1996, Bono and Jimmy Buffett had a near death experience.
This happened after Buffet had booked his Grumman HU-16 Albatross seaplane to take him to the Caribbean island. The late singer was also joined on the flight by Bono, his wife Alison and their two children, Eve and Elijah.
However, before the trip, Buffet's trusted pilot and aviation expert, Jim Powell, had warned him to rethink his travel plans. He had suggested postponing the trip to wait for better weather.
“Jimmy wanted to land on the north coast, and I looked at the weather map and knew the water would be too rough for his seaplane to land and that we'd end up having to make alternate, last-minute arrangements," Powell told the Chicago Tribune. "I didn't have any approval for alternate arrangements".
"Jimmy was saying, 'Come on, let's go have fun,’ and I didn't want any part of it at that point," Powell added. "I felt responsible, so I decided not to go".
It would appear that Powell's prediction was correct, Buffet's plane which was set for Montego Bay, was rerouted to the Western port of Negril.
Following the landing, passengers heard gunshots, which were fired by Jamaican authorities, who believed that drug dealers were on board.
Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, Bono said: “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".
Admitting that she was concerned for the safety of his family, Bono added: “Thank God we were safe and sound. It was very scary, let me tell you. You can’t believe the relief I felt when I saw the kids were okay".
The aircraft was hit with approximately 100 rounds of bullets, shattering the plane's windshield and the fuselage was damaged. Although, thankfully nobody on board was injured.
Following this, Bono flew his family back to Miami, with the Jamaican Government issuing a public apology for this incident. However, Jimmy Buffett found the incident humourous.
“I thought it was a joke until I heard the gunfire,” the singer admitted. “They thought we were a dope plane. I mean, we looked about as much like a dope plane as I look like somebody who’d be on the Pat Robertson show".
Five months after this frightening ordeal, Jimmy Buffett released his studio album, Banana Wind, which featured the song, Jamaican Mistaica. This featured the lyrics: “Come back, come back, back to Jamaica / Don't you know we made a big mistake-a? / We'd be so sad if you told us goodbye / And we promise not to shoot you out of the sky".
Over Christmas, Bono teamed up with Imelda May to play a live version of 'Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)' at a Dublin busking gig on Christmas Eve. Find out more on this story from Nova here.
