New audio from the cockpit of Donald Trump’s private jet reveals the pilot calmly discussing his return to the airport shortly after takeoff, when an engine failed.
Trump’s plane, loaned to him by a donor, was flying from New Orleans home to Florida on Saturday night.
The plane had traveled around 75 miles, reaching an altitude of about 28,000 feet, before being forced to turn around after one of its engines failed, The Washington Post and Politico reported.
The private plane, a Dassault Falcon 900, belonged to a donor at the event. It also had Secret Service members on board, along with other staff and Trump advisers.
In the audio clip, a female air traffic control officer tells the pilot: ‘Try to maintain 2,000. They said there was a fog blowing in so I’m not sure how it looks for the visual but the airport is off to your right.’
A male voice adds: ‘Down to 2,000 and we do have airport for 30 Foxtrot.’
The pilot says: ‘Copy that.’
A male voice says: ‘11308 runway 11 clear to land.’
‘Clear to land 113 Foxtrot,’ another voice adds.
After the plane landed back in New Orleans, air traffic control adds: ‘Just a heads up 5352 that there will be vehicles following you down the runway.’
The pilot replies: ‘Appreciate it.’
Once Trump was back on the ground, the RNC reportedly found the former president another plane that belonged to a different donor for him to use to get back to Mar-a-Lago.
The former president landed in Florida around 3 a.m.
Hours after news broke, Trump’s PAC emailed supporters asking them for funds to build a new plane.
‘I have a very important update on my plane, but I need to trust that you won’t share it with anyone,’ wrote Trump in the email.
‘Do you remember Trump Force One?’ the email asks. ‘Before becoming the greatest President of all time, I traveled the Country in my plane, known as Trump Force One. I have a very important update on my plane, but I need to trust that you won’t share it with anyone: my team is building a BRAND NEW Trump Force One.’
The email then gives donors the option to ‘see Trump Force One’ by clicking on a hyperlink, which takes them to a page where they can donate between $5 and $2,000 to the Save America JFC PAC.
Earlier on Saturday night, Trump had given a wide-ranging speech, where he spoke on a range of topics as he struck an aggressive tone on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
This is an excerpt from Daily Mail.
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