It might seem laughable today but 30 years ago when members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force stationed in Negril mistakenly rained bullets on a plane load of people including Margaritaville’s Jimmy Buffett and the superstar Bono of the group U2, none of the terrified occupants found it funny.
The funny part might be that looking back more than a quarter of a century later, the fact that the lawmen at the time were very poor marksmen—as of the reported 100 plus rounds they expended only seven were able to hit the slow-moving seaplane.
The second funny thing is that out of the January 16, 1996 incident came Buffett’s song Jamaica Mistaica, an amusing ballad in which the American singer-songwriter, author and businessman chronicled what happened during the melee and what transpired afterwards, and the fact that the track became the most played song of his 1990s repertoire.
Dalton Hill, also known as Penny, a hotelier and operator of the Lighthouse Inn 2, who has lived in Negril all his life, was at his original property located adjacent to the Negril Lighthouse and witnessed everything that transpired that day. Watch music video below:
