A plane carrying Brazil's president back home is returning to Mexico City due to a technical problem
SAO PAULO (AP) — An airplane carrying Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva back to Brasilia experienced a technical problem after leaving Mexico City on Tuesday and was returning to the airport so he could board another flight to return home, Brazil's air force said.
The aircraft, an Airbus A319, was flying over the Mexican capital on Tuesday afternoon, the Brazilian air force said in a statement. As of 4:53 p.m. local time, the airplane had been in the air for more than two hours, according to plane tracking site FlightAware.
The Brazilian air force added that “security procedures for the problem” were performed successfully, but pilots must “wait for the necessary fuel consumption so the airplane returns to the same airport it took off from.”
On Tuesday morning, Lula attended the inauguration of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. He arrived in Mexico on Sunday and had a meeting with former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
The plane was circling the Felipe Angeles airport, north of Mexico City. The commercial airport was built on a military base by López Obrador after he canceled the larger partially-built airport closer to the city. Foreign dignitaries, including U.S. First lady Jill Biden, had flown into the airport to attend Sheinbaum’s inauguration.
Local media reported that members of Lula's staff in the plane believe a bird strike may be behind the technical problem. Two of the staffers on board were reached by The Associated Press, but did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Aviation experts have said about similar incidents that the protocol for landing after a bird strike requires pilots to fly close to an airport as they get rid of fuel.
In January, an airplane carrying Lula's security team was not able to take off as it encountered a technical problem during a trip to the northeastern Brazilian state of Paraiba. Brazil's presidency said after the incident that the staffers were never at risk.
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