Lula’s scolding, apology and discomfort at the FAB: behind the scenes of the breakdown on the presidential plane

The breakdown that hit the presidential plane this Tuesday (1st) was the target of criticism from President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) even during the maneuvers carried out to land safely in Mexico.

The situation caused discomfort in the command of the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) and led the president to apologize to the members of the delegation for the scare.

According to reports to CNNLula said that Brazil cannot carry the country’s president on an aircraft prone to failure, like the one that occurred.

They were on the plane:

• the Minister of Women, Cida Gonçalves;
• senators Soraya Tronicke (Podemos-MS) and Tereza Leitão (PT-PE);
• the nominee for president of the Central Bank, Gabriel Galípolo;
• the director general of the Federal Police, Andrei Rodrigues;
• Chancellor Mauro Vieira;
• and first lady Rosângela Lula da Silva, Janja.

Passengers noticed something wrong when they heard a noise shortly after takeoff. Lula, who was sitting close to the guests, then got up and went to the pilot himself.

After informing the president about the situation, the pilot himself addressed the passengers. He explained that there was a turbine failure and that the safest decision would be to fly in circles to burn fuel, return to Mexico, land and change aircraft.

The tone adopted by the pilot, according to passengers, was one of safety, without fuss or omission of information.

There was an initial expectation that it would be a two-hour flight over Mexico. After 120 minutes, however, the aircraft still remained heavy, which forced the pilot to maintain another two and a half hours of flight before landing safely.

During this period, Lula was also irritated at not being able to maintain contact with the Palácio do Planalto, as the internet was oscillating and the aircraft’s phones were not working.

as to CNN disclosed, the Minister of Defense, José Múcio, interrupted his vacation to return to Brasília and meet with Lula, this Thursday (2), to talk about the problem. The FAB will investigate the case.