Fort Simpson (Feb 25/04) - Pilot Jacques Harvey was too close for comfort when Haiti's second-largest city was overtaken by rebels on Sunday.

Laverna Martel and Jacques Harvey are seen here in a photo taken in Fort Simpson a few years ago. - photo courtesy of Laverna Martel

A plane belonging to Harvey's employer was commandeered during the rebellion in Cap Haitien.

Harvey, who has more than 30 years of flying experience, was in nearby Port-au-Prince at the time. Fearing that the country's capital would fall next, he promptly rounded up his crew and took refuge in the Turks and Caicos Islands to the north.

"There's a revolution happening there," he said in a phone interview from the city of Provo on Monday. "At one point we were told they needed money, otherwise they would blow up the runway."

It was actually desperate police officers who hijacked the plane in Cap Haitien, he said. Law enforcement authorities are often outnumbered by the well-armed insurgents. But rebels did give chase and opened fire on the aircraft as it took off, he said.

Although Harvey is safe, many of his spare aircraft parts, files and other personal belongings were left behind in Port-au-Prince. He's still hoping for a chance to retrieve those items, he said.

Laverna Martel, his common-law spouse, has been anxiously awaiting his phone calls and watching newscasts for updates from the volatile island nation.

"I'd get up in the middle of the night wondering, What's going on now?" she said from the couple's home in Fort Simpson, where they have lived since 1987.

Martel had initially accompanied Harvey to Haiti in their twin otter aircraft on Nov. 18. During the month she spent there, she was not able to leave the hotel without an armed bodyguard and driver provided by Harvey's employer, she said.

The day before Martel left, rebels began setting up roadblocks. They have since been calling for the removal of president Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Bullets were fired periodically and tear gas occasionally filled the air. Fortunately, she was escorted safely to the airport and out of the country.

"I wasn't very comfortable there," she said. "But Jacques has travelled the world, so it's not new to him."

The signs of suffering in Haiti were obvious, she said. Many Haitians are essentially starving, roads are in ruin and numerous construction projects have been abandoned.

Possessing an affinity for cooking, Harvey said he would share his meals with some of the local employees, who consumed little more than a slice of bread and a can of condensed milk each day.

"It's just unbelievable to see the poverty," he said. "It's hard to believe that we're only 500 miles from Miami."

The level of pollution and the environmental devastation on the island is also remarkable, he said.

Constantly surrounded by bodyguards, Harvey was flying commuters from one Haitian centre to another. His contract was cut short by one week due to the uprising.

He and his crew were forced to scramble when gunshots sounded in Cap Haitien earlier this month.

A few weeks before that, someone threw a hand grenade into a maintenance hangar where the president's helicopter was believed to be, according to Martel.

The Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs has urged Canadian citizens to leave the country. Its official advisory warns of evacuated towns, fleeing police and a shortage of fuel and basic necessities. Harvey can confirm that much.

"It's not a place where you want to go for a walk at night and check things out," he said.

He plans to be back in Fort Simpson by mid-March.