Qatari Boeing gifted to Trump encounters safety problems during takeoff

The Boeing offered by Qatar to Donald Trump, which is experiencing a laborious start-up, took off late on Wednesday due to the unexpected deployment of an evacuation slide, due, according to a source close to the matter, to human error. “They are checking the slide and I think it will take fifteen minutes,” said the American president during a brief exchange on the tarmac with a group of journalists who accompanied him on a trip to Dallas (Texas, south). A source close to the matter told AFP that the slide had been “accidentally deployed” by the air force, which operates “Air Force One”.

The level of security of this new presidential plane is the subject of recurring questions, which culminated in a recent incredible incident in Türkiye. “Are you sure this plane is safe?” an AFP journalist asked him. “Yes, otherwise I wouldn’t take it,” retorted the 80-year-old billionaire.

Skip the ad

Upon his arrival at Andrews Air Force Base, near Washington, the American president remained for an unusually long time aboard his helicopter, before finally boarding “Air Force One”, the name given to the aircraft transporting the head of state. This gave journalists time to observe an inflatable slide deployed on the other side of the plane and to notice that the former presidential plane had also been placed on the tarmac with its gangways extended.

Works to strengthen security

The new aircraft, painted in colors chosen by Donald Trump, finally took off for Texas, where the American president must speak at a Republican convention, and try to mobilize his party in view of the mid-term legislative elections scheduled for November.

The Qatari plane found itself in the spotlight in July, when Donald Trump decided at the last minute not to take it to leave the NATO summit in Turkey. The American president pretended to board the old Boeing, but then secretly changed planes into a supply truck, due to threats to his security.

Donald Trump recently announced that work to improve the safety of the new plane would begin in October and would last longer than expected.

Gift from Qatar

The Qatari royal family donated the luxury jet last year, after the Republican leader complained about the condition of the two old examples of Air Force One, in service since 1990. The gift, valued at several hundred million dollars, raised major ethical and constitutional questions regarding the gifts a president can receive from abroad.

Skip the ad

The new aircraft has already been refitted by the military. It is to be used while waiting for two new Boeings to be delivered in the coming years. Donald Trump has signaled that he intends to keep this Qatari plane for his future presidential museum.