Planalto may resume plan to purchase a new plane for Lula

The probable failure of one of the engines of the aircraft transporting President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) from Mexico to Brazil, on Tuesday (1st), could be used as a pretext by the Palácio do Planalto for the possibly unnecessary purchase, according to a survey by oppositionists, of a new presidential plane. The PT member’s delegation landed in Brasília this Wednesday (2), after 17 hours of travel.

Shortly after taking off from Mexico on Tuesday (1st), the presidential plane had a breakdown, the nature of which has not yet been revealed by the government, and it had to fly for almost five hours in the airport region to lose fuel and be able to make a landing. programmed.

The problems during the flight would have made President Lula talk again about the possibility of purchasing the new presidential plane, according to columnist Lauro Jardim, from the newspaper The Globe. According to the vehicle, the PT member was reportedly irritated by the incident and also by the lack of connectivity on the aircraft. “Any cheap plane talks [ao telefone]I don’t have a satellite in that shit. We can’t go through this,” the president reportedly said, according to the newspaper.

The hypothesis of changing the plane carrying Lula had already been discussed by the government for at least a year. Still in 2023, the PT member had ordered the Brazilian Air Force (FAB), responsible for transporting the president, to carry out a study to enable the purchase or adaptation of another aircraft.

Last year, information brought by the press revealed that the first lady, Rosângela Silva, known as Janja, played a significant role in discussions about the acquisition of a new presidential plane, demonstrating her active participation in the government’s logistical and infrastructure decisions. The new aircraft, estimated at R$400 million, would replace the Airbus A319-ACJ. In response to the presidential couple’s demands, the Brazilian Air Force found an Airbus A330-200 registered in the name of a Swiss-based company to replace the so-called “Aerolula”, purchased in 2004, for US$56.7 million.

A group of opposition deputies even filed a lawsuit to block the purchase of the new “Aerolula”, claiming that this would represent “serious damage to the public treasury, misuse of purpose and an affront to the principle of morality”. The negative repercussion of the news made Lula abandon the purchase.

But, with the incident in Mexico, the issue of changing the presidential plane came back to the surface in the government. According to the newspaper The State of S. Paulothe Minister of Defense, José Múcio Monteiro Filho, brought forward the end of the vacation and, upon returning to Brazil, he will discuss the issue with Lula and the Air Force commander, Air Lieutenant Brigadier Marcelo Kanitz Damasceno.

Possibilities for changing the plane

The Air Force works with two alternatives. The first would be to adapt one of the two Airbus A330-200 aircraft, purchased during the government of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) for US$80 million each. To do this, it would be necessary to provide internet, a suite with a shower and a reserved room so that the president can make dispatches.

According to Planalto members, this adaptation would be costly and therefore the purchase of another used plane that is already adapted may be more attractive. THE People’s Gazette questioned the FAB about the costs of the study presented to the government, but received no response until the article was published.

Until then, the government’s main justification for changing the aircraft would be the lack of autonomy of the current presidential plane. Last year, Lula traveled to China and had to make two stops, in Guadalajara (Mexico) and Alaska (USA) for refueling.

According to Lula’s advisors, the journey was tiring for the president, who is 77 years old, in addition to the higher cost of airport fees and security risks. In February this year, Lula flew on the A330-200, still without adaptations, when he traveled from Brasília to Rio and Washington.

This plane purchased by the Bolsonaro government has capacity for around 250 passengers, depending on the configuration and has an autonomy of up to 16 hours of flight. Officially, the Palácio do Planalto intends to await the report on the incident on the flight that brought Lula from Mexico to resume discussions on changing the presidential plane.

The president’s next international trip is scheduled for the end of October, when he will visit Russia, where he will participate in the BRICS Summit. In November, Lula leaves for Azerbaijan, to participate in COP-29.

Current model was purchased in 2004 by Lula

The plane currently used by the presidency is an Airbus A319 and was purchased in 2004 during Lula’s first term. At the time, the acquisition cost US$56.7 million.

The model was assembled in Hamburg, Germany, and officially named Santos Dumont. According to the FAB, the VC-1 is a military aircraft designed especially to fulfill the mission of safely transporting the President of the Republic to various locations in Brazil and abroad.

The presidential plane is approximately 34 meters long. It can reach up to 830 kilometers per hour at maximum cruising speed.

“The aircraft has a performance that allows operation at different aerodromes, which allows for versatility in presidential transport, both by operating on shorter and narrower runways, as well as by carrying out long-duration flights”, informed the FAB.

FAB will investigate flaws in the government delegation’s plane

Government members will ask the FAB military for a report on what caused the air incident. One of the hypotheses put forward by government officials is that there was a problem with one of the engines, after it hit a bird.

Officially, the Air Force only reported that the plane had technical problems.

“I inform you that the presidential aircraft VC-1, which transports the President of the Republic on the route between Mexico and Brazil, presented a technical problem after taking off from Mexico City Airport, this Tuesday (01/10)” , says the text signed by the Air Force commander, air lieutenant brigadier Marcelo Kanitz Damasceno.

In addition to President Lula, 15 other people were on board, including the First Lady Rosângela Silva, Janja, Gabriel Galípolo, nominated for the presidency of the Central Bank, the Minister of Women, Cida Gonçalves, and senators Soraya Thronicke (Podemos-MS ) and Tereza Leitão (PT-PE).

Different from what was reported in the newspaper The Globeinterlocutors of the members of the delegation claim that President Lula remained calm during the breakdown and that a meal was served normally while fuel was consumed in more than 2,000 kilometers traveled, in circles.

The aircraft spent around 5 hours flying in circles over Mexico City to burn off fuel and reach the landing weight limit and, thus, be able to return to the local airport, from where it had taken off.

During the fuel burning process, the plane’s pilot even requested the presence of firefighters on the runway before landing the aircraft. The request was made to the control tower at Felipe Ángeles Airport, which responded affirmatively to the request, indicating that rescue teams would be ready for the landing.

The landing was made safely at 10:16 pm, Brasília time, as reported by the FAB in a note. The crew and passengers were transferred to a “reserve” plane, also from the Air Force, used by the so-called “Advanced Echelon” (Escav) that organizes presidential trips.

The flight landed in Brasília at 10:12 am this Wednesday (02), after almost 17 hours of travel. The flight was expected to last around 10 hours under normal conditions.