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Canada PM Justin Trudeau's official plane breaks down, again

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anada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau looks on during an event in Vancouver in August 2023Image source, Reuters
Image caption,

Mr Trudeau is no stranger to airplane snags

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's aircraft has broken down during a trip to Jamaica, in his second travel incident in four months.

The Canadian Armed Forces said on Friday that they were forced to send a second plane with a repair team to address the issue.

Mr Trudeau was on the Caribbean island for a family holiday.

Last September, Mr Trudeau's departure from India was delayed by two days because of a mechanical glitch.

The PM, who is required to travel on a military plane for security reasons, flew to Jamaica on 26 December.

The problem was discovered on 2 January, CBC news reports.

A day later, the second plane carried a maintenance team to repair the first, a spokeswoman for Canada's defence department told the broadcaster.

He returned on 4 January as originally scheduled.

Both planes were CC-144 Challenger aircraft, relatively new acquisitions by the Canadian Armed Forces.

Mr Trudeau has suffered a string of travel mishaps in recent years.

In September, his departure from Delhi following a G20 Summit was embarrassingly delayed after his plane encountered an unspecified mechanical problem.

During his re-election campaign in 2019, a bus carrying journalists collided with the wing of an aircraft chartered by Mr Trudeau's Liberal party.

Later that year, he was forced to use a backup plane to attend a Nato summit in London after the original had been damaged in a hangar accident.

But a problem was discovered with the backup aircraft and the prime minister had to use a third one to return home.

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