Donald Trump’s plane had to make a forced landing in Nashville, as the private aircraft’s pilot reported a technical glitch that would’ve made it deeply unsafe to proceed with the rest of the journey.
The incident took place in the middle of the afternoon, on Wednesday, February 3, at a distance of around 50 miles from Nashville.
As representatives of the Federal Aviation Administration have revealed, the private plane transporting the republican presidential front-runner was a Boeing 757-200, produced in 1991.
The emergency landing took place without further complications at approximately 4:40 p.m. at Nashville International Airport, in Tennessee.
Representatives of the airport promptly shared news of the politician’s impromptu arrival on Twitter, through the official account Fly Nashville, welcoming the politician and referring to the unexpected occurrence as a “quick pit stop”, without providing any information regarding the mechanical trouble experienced by Trump’s plane.
Shortly afterwards Donald Trump boarded another aircraft, undeterred by the mid-air scare. Eventually, the controversial businessman-turned-politician safely reached his much-awaited destination: Little Rock, Arkansas.
The event that the Republican candidate for the 2016 presidential elections had been scheduled to attend was delayed significantly, debuting at around 7:45 p.m., instead of starting at 5 p.m., as planned.
Even so, over 11,500 people eager to take part in Trump’s political rally patiently bided their time, crammed at the Barton Coliseum, a venue with a capacity of just 7,170 seats.
The Republican candidate expressed his gratitude following this high turnover, and explained that while the journey was quite difficult and eventful, he never felt the need to return back to New York and drop the entire event, as suggested by his flight crew members.
Claiming that he loved Arkansas too much to cancel his appearance at Barton Coliseum, the presidential contender proceeded with the rest of his speech, in front of the record crowd.
It must be noted that while some audience members were clearly in favor of the Republican, shouting”We want Trump” over and over again ahead of his arrival, hundreds of others were obviously against him, offering free hugs and criticizing the candidate’s political agenda and inflammatory statements.
At the moment, Trump’s plane is still being examined by inspectors from the Federal Aviation Administration. According to preliminary results, one of its Rolls-Royce RB211 starboard engines malfunctioned during the flight, remaining in neutral and proving impossible to control.
Luckily, while the pilot reported the technical glitch affecting the high-bypass turbofan engine straight away, he managed to land the plane safely without requiring any additional assistance.
Image Source: ITV