A plane carrying Brazil President Lula lands safely at Mexico City airport after circling for hours

By MAURICIO SAVARESE and MARTIN SILVA
Updated 8:58 PM CDT, October 1, 2024

ZUMPANGO, Mexico (AP) — An airplane carrying Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva back to Brasilia landed safely on Tuesday at Mexico City’s Felipe Angeles airport after circling for hours due to a technical problem.

Brazil’s air force confirmed the safe landing of the aircraft, an Airbus A319, at 7:16 p.m. local time after four hours circling the airport.

“We landed and everyone is well,” Brazil’s press secretary José Chrispiniano told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

The aircraft had departed earlier in the afternoon following the inauguration of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, but experienced a technical problem after leaving Mexico City. The Brazilian air force said in a statement that the aircraft had to consume enough fuel to allow it to land again safely.

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https://apnews.com/article/brazil-lula-airplane-mexico-city-baf4e4a690a62f2b3f3b32534560b771