WASHINGTON [USA Desk]: U.S. President Donald Trump left Washington for Texas on Wednesday aboard the Boeing 747-8 that Qatar gifted to the United States, following a brief delay caused by the accidental deployment of an emergency evacuation slide.
The slide was activated by military personnel shortly before Trump was scheduled to board the aircraft for a flight to Dallas, where he was set to attend the first-ever Republican midterm convention, according to a person briefed on the incident.
The deployed slide was subsequently removed from the aircraft, allowing preparations for the flight to continue.
Trump was asked by a journalist whether he was confident the plane was safe to fly. “Yeah, I am, or I wouldn’t be on it,” he replied.
The Boeing 747-8 used as Air Force One is typically equipped with 12 emergency inflatable evacuation slides. The slides are intended to help passengers safely reach the ground from an aircraft doorway roughly 30 feet above the surface.
The U.S. Air Force did not immediately provide a comment on the incident.
Trump began using the Qatar-gifted aircraft for presidential travel on July 1, following an accelerated renovation effort after he accepted the plane as a gift the previous year.
