KEY WEST, Fla. — The FBI interviewed the hospitalized survivor of a Cuban plane crash, and the Coast Guard said Wednesday it plans to transfer the eight others rescued from the Gulf of Mexico onto a U.S. ship.
Authorities were trying to figure out whether Tuesday’s crash, which killed one of the 10 Cubans on the plane, came at the end of a hijacking or whether the group left Cuba to flee the communist country. The distinction could help determine whether they qualify for asylum in the United States.
The United States has returned some skyjackers to Cuba for prosecution and has prosecuted some in this country.
The most seriously injured, Rodolfo Fuentes, 36, was in a Key West hospital, making him eligible for possible asylum, U.S. immigration officials said. Fuentes was questioned Wednesday, FBI agent Al Alonso said.
“At this point, it doesn’t appear to be a hijacking, but until we interview them we can’t be sure,” said Judy Orihuela, an FBI spokeswoman in Miami.
Doctors said Wednesday Fuentes’ prognosis was good.
“He has a concussion, a big cut on the back of his head and a sore neck,” said Dr. David Bannon. “He’s really doing quite well considering the drama he suffered.”
The eight other survivors, including three children, remained aboard the Panamanian freighter Chios Dream, whose captain rescued them Tuesday.
The seas were too rough to transfer them to the Coast Guard cutter Courageous but another attempt would be made Wednesday evening, Petty Officer Danielle DeMarino said.
U.S. law lets Cubans apply for residency if they reach U.S. soil. Ordinarily, those captured at sea are returned to Cuba, but authorities said it was too early to say what would be done with the survivors.
Once the survivors were transferred to the cutter, they will be interviewed by the Immigration and Naturalization Services and the FBI, federal officials said.
“If they pass the ‘credible fear’ test they will be taken to Guantanamo Bay,” said Maria Cardona, an INS spokeswoman in Washington. “If they do not, they will be repatriated to Cuba.”
To pass that test, Cardona said, migrants must demonstrate a fear of persecution if returned to their home country, “based on nationality, race, religion, political opinion or membership in a particular social group.”
When asked about the Fuentes’ status, Cardona noted he was now on U.S. soil.
“Essentially if a person makes it to U.S. soil and they are eligible, and they want to stay, then they would be eligible to apply for residency,” she said.
Cuban officials said the pilot reported to the control tower the government-owned plane was being hijacked and that it was headed to Florida with a group of adults and children.
The Cuban government’s statement, published Wednesday in the Communist Party daily Granma, said pilot Lenin Iglesias Hernandez first took off at 7:35 a.m. Tuesday from a small airstrip in western Pinar del Rio province with flight technician Juan Jose Galeano Cabrera for what initially appeared to be a routine crop-dusting flight.
Iglesias then flew to nearby Herradura airport in the capital of Pinar del Rio, where he asked Galeano Cabrera to get out and wait for him because he had to deal with “an administrative matter.”
There, Iglesias picked up a group of people waiting for him at the end of one of the runways and took off at 8:35 a.m., the statement added.
“They came voluntarily,” said Aina Cepero, a family member of two brothers she said was on the flight. She said the brothers’ father lives in Miami.
Konstantinos Kalaitgis, captain of the Panamanian freighter, said the plane circled his ship several times and dropped a box into the sea. The plane crashed nearby and the survivors scrambled out.
A doctor from the nearby Carnival Cruise ship Tropicale initially treated the survivors. In addition to the injuries suffered by Fuentes, a women had a broken collarbone and another woman had a severe leg cut. The others had no serious injuries, Carnival spokesman Andy Newman said.
The plane crashed about 50 miles west of Cuba or about 150 miles east of Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula and 285 miles from Key West. The Coast Guard said the craft was heading west when it went down.
Mercedes Martinez — believed to be the pilot’s wife — “never talked about doing this, not even in jest,” said her brother, Jorge Martinez, in Pinar del Rio. Relatives said the pilot, Iglesias, is 35, and identified their sons as Erik, 13, and Danny, 7.
Air traffic control in Havana notified the air traffic control center in Miami at 8:45 a.m. Tuesday that the aircraft reported a possible hijacking, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
Contact was lost 15 minutes later. The FAA said it had no voice or radar contact with the aircraft. The Pentagon also said it had no radar contact with the plane.
U.S. treatment of would-be exiles has been in the spotlight since the tug-of-war over Elian Gonzalez, the Cuban boy rescued at sea in November. His mother died during the attempt to reach America, and the boy was eventually returned to his Cuban father despite protests by Cuban-Americans who wanted him to stay.
President Clinton said the health and safety of the survivors should be America’s first concern.
“I can imagine that there will be a lot of questions about what should be done about the people that are found alive,” Clinton said. “I think the most important thing now is just to worry about their care.”

WASHINGTON — Television shows with graphic bloodshed or gratuitous violence could be banned from daylight viewing under a measure that passed the Senate Commerce Committee Wednesday.
The bill, which limits such programming when children are likely to be watching, comes a week after federal regulators accused the entertainment industry of marketing violent, adult-rated products to young people.
Despite the industry’s protests, violence is made accessible to children because it makes money, said Sen. Ernest Hollings, D-S.C., one of the sponsors of the bill. He has been pushing for a “safe harbor” of children’s TV viewing time for years.
“The industry, as in the past, continues today to know, understand and prosper under the auspices of ‘violence pays.’ They know it and we know it,” Hollings said.
Under the bill approved Wednesday, “violent” television shows could only be shown when children do not make up a significant portion of the audience or when the shows bear ratings that would allow parents to electronically block them.
Safe harbor hours normally run between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., although the bill gives the Federal Communications Commission power to set the exact hours. The agency also would determine the definition of “violent programming.”
The restrictions would only kick in, however, if an FCC study finds the v-chip system — which enables parents to block out programs rated for violence, sex and crude language — is not effective in protecting children from explicit TV content.