Â鶹´«Ã½

Skip to main content

A plane carrying Brazil President Lula lands safely at Mexico City airport after circling for hours

FILE - Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks at the Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil, Aug. 21, 2024. (Eraldo Peres / AP Photo, File) FILE - Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks at the Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil, Aug. 21, 2024. (Eraldo Peres / AP Photo, File)
Share
ZUMPANGO, Mexico -

An airplane carrying Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva back to Brasilia has landed safely at the Felipe Angeles airport, north of Mexico City, after circling for hours due to a technical problem, Brazil's press secretary said Tuesday.

The aircraft, an Airbus A319, had departed Tuesday afternoon following the inauguration of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, but experienced a technical problem after leaving Mexico City. The Brazilian air force said in a statement that the aircraft had to consume enough fuel to allow it to land again safely. It landed almost five hours after it took off.

Lula planned to board another plane to return to Brasilia.

The Brazilian air force said in its statement 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.â€

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 had been circling the Felipe Angeles airport for almost five hours. 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.

Brazilian 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.

Savarese reported from Sao Paulo.

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's office says her recent comment about chemtrails doesn't mean she believes the United States government is spraying them in the province.

A father in Kelowna is furious after his 13-year-old daughter was brutally beaten on Gyro Beach. He is calling for criminal charges in the devastating attack, which was caught on video by multiple bystanders.

Trudeau government survives another Conservative-led non-confidence vote

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government survived another Conservative-led non-confidence vote on Tuesday, the second in less than a week. This, the same day the Bloc Quebecois had an opportunity to table a non-confidence motion of its own, opting instead to push the Liberals to support one of its key demands.

A small bush on a ledge appears to have "miraculously" saved the life of a climber who fell down the steep slope of a mountain, according to B.C. search and rescue crews.

Local Spotlight

The last living member of the legendary Vancouver Asahi baseball team, Kaye Kaminishi, died on Saturday, Sept. 28, surrounded by family. He was 102 years old.

On Saturday night at her parents’ home in Delaware, Ont. the Olympic bronze medallist in pole vault welcomed everyone who played a role in getting her to the podium in Paris.

A tale about a taxicab hauling gold and sinking through the ice on Larder Lake, Ont., in December 1937 has captivated a man from that town for decades.

When a group of B.C. filmmakers set out on a small fishing boat near Powell River last week, they hoped to capture some video for a documentary on humpback whales. What happened next blew their minds.

A pizza chain in Edmonton claims to have the world's largest deliverable pizza.

Sarah McLachlan is returning to her hometown of Halifax in November.

Wayne MacKay is still playing basketball twice at Mount Allison University at 87 years old.

A man from a small rural Alberta town is making music that makes people laugh.

An Indigenous artist has a buyer-beware warning ahead of Sept. 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.