Trump’s helicopter carrying him to Stansted airport made an unscheduled landing at a local airfield due to what the White House called a “minor hydraulic issue”. No one was injured, and a backup took him to Stansted, where he boarded Air Force One and departed for Washington.
A routine departure of former US President Donald Trump from Britain took an unexpected turn when a minor hydraulic issue forced him to switch helicopters before leaving for the United States. According to the White House, the incident occurred just before Trump boarded Air Force One for his return journey. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt informed reporters that the switch was carried out due to a “minor hydraulic issue”. “Out of an abundance of caution, the pilots landed at a local airfield before reaching Stansted Airport. The President and the first lady safely boarded the support helicopter,” she added.ย
According to the International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences, helicopters often depend on hydraulic fluid systems to operate flight controls and landing gear, allowing high pressure to be managed in compact mechanisms.
Extra travel time for Trump and Melania
Although the journey was initially meant to take just 20 minutes, the technical snag extended the travel time to nearly 40 minutes. Leavitt confirmed that both Trump and Melania later boarded Air Force One without any further disruptions.
Trump’s two-day UK visit concludes
Trump wrapped up a two-day state visit to the UK that was marked with royal pomp and ceremony. He and First Lady Melania Trump were hosted at a grand banquet dinner with King Charles and other members of the royal family. During the visit, Trump met British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the official residence of Chequers. The two leaders addressed a joint press conference and signed what they described as a historic pact on science and technology cooperation.
Earlier on Thursday, Trump said he was “tremendously thankful” for the pageantry and splendour lavished on him during his second state visit to the United Kingdom. Trump and Starmer signed what both sides hailed as a historic agreement on science and technology, and they held a roundtable with global business leaders where they suggested the deal could mean significant job gains. Among the topics tackled mostly in private talks between Trump and Starmer were the wars in Ukraine and Gaza and US tariff rates on steel imported from Britain.
(With inputs from AP)
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