ZUMPANGO, Mexico (AP) — An airplane carrying Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva back to Brasilia landed safely on Tuesday at Mexico City’s Felipe Angeles airport after circling for hours due to a technical problem.
Brazil's air force confirmed the safe landing of the aircraft, an Airbus A319, at 7:16 p.m. local time after four hours circling the airport.
“We landed and everyone is well,” Brazil's press secretary José Chrispiniano told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.
The aircraft had departed earlier in the 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 later on Tuesday.
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.”
A source who was traveling in the plane said Lula was calm but worried throughout the flight, which was carrying 16 people, including first lady Rosângela Lula da Silva, members of the Cabinet, lawmakers and crew.
The source spoke under condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
Lula arrived in Mexico on Sunday and had a meeting with former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. He left for Brazil after attending Sheinbaum's inauguration Tuesday morning.
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 for the Mexican president's inauguration.
Brazilian media reported that members of Lula's staff in the plane believe a bird strike may be behind the technical problem.
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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Savarese reported from Sao Paulo.
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