American Airlines Pilot Caught In Gunfire Outside Puerto Rico Strip Club

by Gary Leff

American Airlines flight AA1528 from San Juan to Philadelphia was delayed 7 hours and 45 minutes on Monday when pilot Mathew Stapula didn’t show up at the airport. He was killed outside a San Juan strip club early Sunday morning. American sent a new crew member to operate the flight.

The District strip club is in the Santurce neighborhood. The pilot was smoking a cigarette outside when three private security guards exchanged gunfire with a customer.

Via Google translate,

Rubén Alemán Hernández…went out to look for money in the car to pay a bill of about $800, but who returned “erratic”, even driving against traffic.

After handing in his credit card, an argument arose with the waiter and then the exchange of shots.

The security guards alleged to the Police that Alemán Hernández was the one who first drew the gun to shoot. One of the guards was injured in the leg.

Meanwhile, Alemán Hernández died instantly, while one of the bullets hit [pilot] Stapula.

Hernandez had left a woman that had accompanied him behind at the club “as a guarantee” while he went out to his car for money.

Two men were gunned down outside District Nightclub in September. Going out to the Fairfield Inn Salt Lake City on layovers, or one of the Houston brothels that had been run by a United Airlines pilot, seems far safer. The loss of the 48 year old pilot, a North Carolina native, is a shame.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. Gary, I am a (and remain) a longtime fan and devoted reader of your content, but found the snark in this post to be a bit out of place and in poor taste.

  3. Really, why take a shot at SLC and Houston???

    Stay away from questionable areas and questionable things won’t happen to you.

  4. What is a shame is this article. Let’s make snarky comments about the death of an individual for clicks. Rather disgusting.

  5. @robert, so… people at a concert in Las Vegas being gunned dow by a sniper, were in a “questionable area”. Good to know.

  7. @amapas – you can find terror anywhere, the character of a neighborhood doesn’t equal terrorist actions.

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