New aircraft glitch for Canada’s Trudeau before return from Jamaica

John McCarthyPosted oninBreaking News, Caribbean News, International News, Technology News

KINGSTON (Reuters) – Canada said on Friday an aircraft was sent this week to Jamaica to address a maintenance issue with the plane that took Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on a visit to the Caribbean, enabling him to fly back home.

It is the second recent instance of such an aircraft glitch; Trudeau’s departure from India in September 2023 was delayed by a couple of days after a G20 summit.

“We can confirm two Royal Canadian Air Force CC-144 Challengers were in Jamaica supporting transport for the prime minister,” a spokesperson for Canada’s defense department said.

An inspection uncovered the maintenance issue on Tuesday, before Trudeau’s departure date, the spokesperson added. A maintenance team and aircraft were sent to the island to restore the craft to service the next day.

Trudeau was able to return on the original plane, the spokesperson said.

REUTERS

Reporting by Gokul Pisharody in Bengaluru. Editing by Gerry Doyle

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

John McCarthy

John F. McCarthy is a veteran journalist in the Caribbean, writing from the "Decision Space" where survival meets the surreal. His reporting steel was tempered by a lineage of legendary editors and broadcasters, including Ed Wynn Brant (The Bomb), Owen Eschenroder (Ann Arbor News), Lynelle Emanuel (BVI Beacon), and Charles Thanas (WSVI-TV). Alongside longtime colleague Kenneth C. "Casey" Clark, McCarthy has navigated the front lines of the territory’s history—from the 1997 volcanic "snow" to every major hurricane since Hugo. Known for leaning out of doorless helicopters to capture the "money shot," McCarthy now edits the V.I. Free Press, providing the essential link between the island's colonial past and its SpaceX future.