(Reuters) – A Cuban man landed a small Russian-made plane at an isolated Florida airport after flying it from the Caribbean island, local media reported on Friday, amid a wave of migrants seeking to escape an economic crisis.
The single-engine Antonov An-2 landed at around 11:30 a.m. at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in the Florida Everglades, an NBC affiliate reported.
The man was a defector from Sancti Spiritus, Cuba, the Miami Herald reported, citing Miami-Dade Aviation Department spokesperson Gregory Chin.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The number of Cubans leaving their homeland has soared this year, with most arriving via the U.S. border with Mexico after traveling through Central America.
That has fueled diplomatic tensions between the communist-run island and the United States, which is the migrants principal destination.
(Reporting by Brian Ellsworth; editing by Grant McCool)
