RAF probe as sister airplane of jet utilized by Sunak suffers ‘blowout scare’

An RAF investigation is underway after the sister airplane of a VIP jet usually utilized by the King and Rishi Sunak suffered a dramatic runway “scare”. The airplane – an RAF Voyager – blew a touchdown gear tyre whereas hurtling alongside a Nevada runway at round 160mph laden with 80 tonnes of gasoline.

The Prime Minister takes long-haul abroad journeys aboard an virtually an identical airplane – which Boris Johnson insisted on spending almost £1m repainting in patriotic colors. It’s one in all 14 Airbus A330 Voyagers, often utilized by the navy to refuel different plane mid-air.

But final week one other airplane in the identical fleet – with a registration quantity only one digit completely different to the VIP airplane – suffered a blow out throughout an RAF train within the US.

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson stated incidents of this sort had been “very rare” and an investigation had been launched into the way it occurred. They stated: “we are working with the US Air Force to see if we can identify the issue whether it was damage from a foreign object on the runway or some form of issue with the tyre.” But they insisted there was no indication {that a} fault with the mannequin of airliner had triggered the incident.

“There are thousands of these flying and there has been no form of common issue of this nature across the fleet,” they added. “All our Voyager craft continue to fly normally. This was an isolated and extremely rare incident.”

The crew stated they’d felt some “minor vibrations” early on within the flight, however had been unaware of how critical the incident was. Corporal Vaz Lawton, one in all a dozen navy personnel who employees the jet, stated: “This was my first flight in charge of the cabin with passengers onboard. It was a shock to learn that the tyre had burst, but my training kicked in and I worked with the pilots and other crew to keep the passengers updated and reassure them.”

In order to land extra safely following the mission, the crew flew the airplane for longer than deliberate, burning off extra gasoline to make the plane lighter. They touched down safely at Nellis Air Force Base in southern Nevada.

The airplane had been deployed in an train codenamed “Red Flag”, supporting UK and US fighter jets in aerial fight coaching. The captain of the Voyager, who has not been named, stated: “This has been an eventful day, but it is reassuring to be part of a wider team that operates so effectively under pressure.”