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8 who fled Cuba released

 
Published Nov. 16, 2002|Updated Sept. 4, 2005

Eight Cubans who flew a Soviet-built crop duster plane to Florida this week were released from detention Friday.

After routine medical tests and vaccinations, the eight, including a 2-year-old girl, were expected to be released to relatives.

"I'm doing well. I'll talk later," pilot Nemencio Carlos Alonso Guerra said in Spanish, responding to questions from journalists.

The group made their risky flight Monday, landing at Key West International Airport under escort by two Florida National Guard fighters scrambled when the biplane was detected on radar.

The 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act lets Cubans who reach American soil apply for U.S. residency.

_ Wire reports