Qatar machine for Trump: Emergency slide breakdown causes delay

According to authorities, the US presidential plane given as a gift by Qatar left late due to a breakdown with an emergency slide. As the AFP news agency learned on Wednesday from sources familiar with the incident, army personnel at Joint Base Andrews near Washington “accidentally triggered the slide.” The plane was supposed to take US President Donald Trump to a party conference of his ruling Republicans in Dallas, Texas.

At the time of the incident, Trump was not on board but was already on the tarmac. Earlier, the US president told reporters that inspectors were checking one of the plane's inflatable emergency slides. “They're checking the chute over here right now, and I think it's going to take 15 minutes,” Trump said on the tarmac.

The incident once again raised doubts about the safety of the machine. Asked by an AFP reporter if he was confident about the plane's safety, Trump replied: "Yes, I am, otherwise I wouldn't fly it." Later, White House communications chief Steven Cheung said, "As the president said, the slide has been checked to make sure everything is working properly."

Upon his arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Trump remained in his helicopter for an unusually long time before finally boarding Air Force One. This gave journalists the opportunity to examine an inflatable slide deployed on the right side of the presidential plane. They also saw the former presidential plane being moved from the hangar to the tarmac. However, the plane donated by Qatar later took off and landed in Texas.

Personal protection has safety concerns

Trump used the new presidential plane for the first time on July 1st. However, a debate arose in the USA about the safety of the Boeing 747-8 after Trump forewent the luxury aircraft when departing from the NATO summit in Turkey a week and a half later and instead used an alternative aircraft from his old Air Force One fleet.

According to a report in the New York Times, the president's personal security officer had raised security concerns. Accordingly, the machine provided by Qatar is not equipped with the same safety systems as previous US presidential planes. According to reports, she was refitted at the end of July.