The Time Jimmy Buffett’s Plane Was Shot At By Jamaican Authorities With U2’s Bono Aboard
The incident in 1996 resulted in Buffett’s song, “Jamaica Mistaica.”
By Andy Kahn Jan 16, 2025 • 5:50 am PST

On January 16, 1996, Jimmy Buffett chartered a flight to Jamaica on his Grumman HU-16 Albatross airplane, named the Hemisphere Dancer. Accompanying Buffett on the flight was Island Records founder Chris Backwell and U2 frontman Bono who brought along his wife and their two young children.
As the Hemisphere Dancer taxied toward the shore of Negril, local Jamaican authorities mistook the aircraft for drug smugglers. Though the passengers were unhurt, the Jamaican police fired several rounds of bullets at the vessel, leaving the plane with at least seven bullet holes. Bono and his family promptly left Jamaica and flew back to Miami.
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Around the time of the life-threatening incident, Bono recalled the experience, stating:
“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 OK.”
Buffett reportedly helped defuse the situation by telling the Jamaican authorities he had “only come for chicken.” Buffett, who died in September 2023 at age 76, took a lighthearted approach to memorializing the incident in song.
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Released in June 1996, Buffett’s album Banana Wind included his song about being shot at with Bono humorously entitled “Jamaica Mistaica.” Here’s part of lyrics explaining Buffett’s side of the story:
It was a beautiful day
The kind you’d want to toast
We were treetop flyin’
Movin’ west along the coast
Then we landed in the water
Just about my favorite thrill
When some assholes started firing
As we taxied to Negril
Just about to lose my temper
As I endeavored to explain
We had only come for chicken
We were not the ganja plane
Well you should have seen their faces
When they finally realized
We were not some coked up cowboys
Sportin’ guns and alibis
[Chorus] Come back
Come back
Back to Jamaica
Don’t you know we made a big mistaica
We’d be so sad if you told us goodbye
And we promise not to shoot you out of the sky
Well the word got out
All over the island
Friends, strangers, they were all apologizing
Some thought me crazy for bein’ way to nice
But it’s just another shitty day in paradise
Watch Jimmy Buffett & The Coral Reefer Band perform “Jamaica Mistaica” in 2014:
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[Originally Published January 16, 2024]
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