During his recent trip to the Caribbean, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faced a minor setback when an aircraft malfunction necessitated the Canadian Armed Forces to dispatch a second plane with a repair team to address the issue. This incident mirrors a similar event during Trudeau’s departure from India at the G20 Summit last year. While vacationing with his family in Jamaica, a malfunction was detected in the Royal Canadian Air Force’s CC-144 Challenger aircraft, as per CBC News’ report on January 2.
Swiftly responding to the situation, another aircraft carrying a maintenance team arrived on January 3 to rectify the problem with the original plane. Despite the unexpected situation, Trudeau managed to stick to his travel schedule, successfully completing his return on January 4 without any further delays.
Travel mishaps with Trudeau
According to reports, both aircraft involved in this incident are relatively recent acquisitions by the Canadian Armed Forces.
This recent aircraft issue adds to a string of travel-related mishaps in Trudeau’s recent history. In September of the previous year, during his departure from Delhi following the G20 Summit, an unspecified mechanical issue caused a delay in his travel plans. In 2019, during his re-election campaign, a collision between a bus carrying journalists and an aircraft chartered by Trudeau’s Liberal party led to chaos.
Further, in the same year, he had to switch to a backup plane for a NATO summit in London after the original aircraft sustained damage in a hangar incident. However, complications arose with the backup aircraft, eventually resulting in Trudeau opting for a third plane for his return journey.
(With inputs from agencies)