Air Force One was forced to make a dramatic U-turn on Tuesday evening with President Donald Trump aboard after a “minor electrical issue” was discovered, forcing its pilots to circle back to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.
Trump was en route to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, when the glitch became apparent about 30 minutes into the journey, forcing a return to the tarmac.
The president subsequently boarded another aircraft, a Boeing 757 normally used for domestic flights, and the trip to Europe was finally completed without incident.
Trump has frequently complained that the two specially modified Boeing 747s currently serving as Air Force One have been in service for almost 40 years and are in need of an upgrade, an argument seemingly reinforced by Tuesday’s scare.
His predecessor, Barack Obama, shared the same view and awarded Boeing a contract to build two new VC-25B planes as replacements in 2016, although they are still not expected to be delivered until 2029, a matter of frustration to Trump, who is likely to have left office before they arrive.
While the planes tasked with transporting the commander-in-chief are loaded with advanced technology to secure them against missile strikes and radiation and carry the very latest communications systems, last night’s episode was not the first time an issue has occurred.
On September 5, 1984, an earlier version of Air Force One – a Boeing 707 that had debuted in 1958 – suffered a relay failure in an air vent, causing it to lose cabin pressure at 21,000 feet with Ronald Reagan on board.
After passengers reported hearing ringing in their ears, the pilot lowered the altitude to 9,000 feet to correct the problem and ultimately landed safely back in Washington, D.C.
On July 14, 2004, a later Boeing 747 being used by George W Bush lost a wing flap while bringing the president to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, to give a speech on tackling post-9/11 terrorism, forcing a replacement to be sent out from Joint Base Andrews to bring him home.
Bush suffered another mishap on November 19, 2006, when Air Force One landed in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, and six of its tires blew out upon landing.
The problem meant the president had to use a backup Boeing 757 to reach his next destination, Indonesia, while many of his White House staff were relegated to a chartered United Airlines plane.
More recently, Obama was likewise forced to switch planes in Philadelphia on November 2, 2014, after arriving from Connecticut because of a minor flap issue with the aircraft.
He was on a busy cross-country campaign schedule ahead of the upcoming midterms when the fault was detected.
While not a technical issue, Air Force One was also involved in another incident that caused alarm during Obama’s tenure.
The presidential plane was seen flying over the Statue of Liberty and Upper New York Bay on April 27, 2009, while being followed by a U.S. Air Force F-16 fighter jet, leading some members of the public in the Big Apple and New Jersey to fear that a terrorist incident was underway.
In fact, it was simply a photo opportunity approved by the Department of Defense that had not been advertised in advance.
Louis Caldera, director of the White House Military Office, who had approved the flyby, was denounced by Bush’s homeland security adviser, Fran Townsend, who said it was “crass insensitivity” and “felony stupidity” not to let people know ahead of time.
Obama, who was not on board, was nevertheless forced to apologize and angrily ordered a review.
Other less serious gaffes involving Air Force One have included Joe Biden stumbling up its steps and Trump being interrupted by someone opening a bathroom door while speaking to reporters in December.
“Hello? Somebody’s in there. Come on out,” the president chuckled to the mortified person cowering within, who wisely stayed put.
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