The Brazilian air force on Tuesday said that an airplane carrying President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who was returning to Brasília, landed safely in Mexico after circling for hours due to a technical problem.
The plane encountered a technical issue after departing from Mexico City and was prepared to return to a Mexican airport, where Lula was transferred to another flight for his journey back to Brazil.
Lieutenant Brigadier Marcelo Kanitz in a statement said that the crew had “successfully carried out the safety procedures to solve the problem” and that the presidential jet was consuming fuel before landing at an airport near Mexico City.
Lula would switch to another aircraft for his return to Brazil, Kanitz added.
According to the Brazilian air force’s statement, the Airbus A319 was still in the airspace above Mexico City on Tuesday afternoon. FlightAware, a flight tracking website, displayed a Brazilian air force Airbus A319, presumably carrying Lula, circling repeatedly over Felipe Angeles airport in the vicinity of Mexico City.
Lula was en route back to Brazil after attending the inauguration of Mexico’s new president, Claudia Sheinbaum, when an issue arose shortly after takeoff. He arrived in Mexico on Monday and held a meeting with outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
In a separate incident in January, an airplane carrying Lula’s security personnel experienced technical difficulties during a trip to the northeastern Brazilian state of Paraiba, preventing the plane from taking off. Following the incident, the Brazilian presidency assured that the staff members were never in any danger.