The Republican presidential candidate was heading to a campaign rally in Montana
Former US President Donald Trump’s Boeing 757 plane, known as “Trump Force One,” was diverted on Friday during its flight to his rally in Montana due to a mechanical issue.
The plane, en route to Bozeman, where Trump was scheduled to hold a campaign rally on Friday evening, landed safely at Billings instead, according to staff. The two Montana cities are approximately 140 miles (225 km) apart.
“His aircraft had mechanical issues, and he was diverted into the Billings-Logan Airport,” airport officials stated, without disclosing the nature of the technical problem. “He’s continuing to Bozeman on a private jet,” they added.
Trump’s campaign shared a video of him upon landing, where he appeared unfazed and mentioned his joy at being in Montana, making no mention of the landing incident.
“I just landed in a really beautiful place, Montana,” he said in the clip, while still on board 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 enjoys “a very high rating in Montana.”
The plane’s mechanical issue was unrelated to any security threat, and a “complete sweep of the airport” was conducted before Trump boarded the new plane, NBC news reported, citing the Secret Service.
The rally in Bozeman marked Trump’s first outdoor event since the assassination attempt on July 13th in Pennsylvania.
The former US president narrowly avoided death after a bullet fired by Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was subsequently shot and killed by Secret Service agents, missed the ex-president’s head by millimeters, grazing his ear.