Former US President Donald Trump’s Boeing 757 – known as ‘Trump Force One’ – was diverted on Friday on the way to a rally in Montana due to a mechanical problem.
The plane was heading to Bozeman, where Trump was expected to hold a campaign rally on Friday evening. It made an emergency landing in Billings, the staff confirmed. The two cities in Montana are around 140 miles (225km) apart.
“His aircraft had mechanical issues, and he was diverted into the Billings-Logan Airport,” airport officials said, without elaborating on the issues. “He’s continuing to Bozeman on a private jet,” they added.
Trump’s campaign posted a video of him upon landing, in which he appeared unfazed. “I just landed in a really beautiful place, Montana,” he said while still aboard his plane.
“So beautiful flying over, and you just look down, and that’s the way it’s supposed to be,” he added, noting that he has “a very high rating in Montana.”
The plane’s mechanical problem was not related to any security issues, and a “complete sweep of the airport” was conducted before Trump was allowed to board the new plane, NBC News reported, citing the Secret Service.
The rally in Bozeman marked Trump’s first outdoor event since the July 13 assassination attempt in Pennsylvania.
The former president narrowly avoided death after a bullet fired by a would-be assassin – who was subsequently fatally shot by Secret Service agents – missed his head by millimeters, grazing his ear.
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