Presidential Candidate's Plane Makes Unscheduled Landing | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-06.02.25

Airborne-NextGen-06.03.25

AirborneUnlimited-06.04.25

Airborne-AffordableFlyers-06.05.25

AirborneUnlimited-06.06.25

Mon, Jul 07, 2008

Presidential Candidate's Plane Makes Unscheduled Landing

MD80 Experienced Pitch Control Issues, Reports Say

A chartered Midwest Airlines MD80 transporting US Senator and likely Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama made an unscheduled stop in St. Louis, MO Monday, after the plane's flight crew experienced "controllability issues" in pitch.

ABC News states the plane encountered thunderstorms shortly after takeoff from Chicago. The aircraft encountered turbulence -- described by ABC as "an abnormally large dip" -- after which the plane's crew reported difficulties controlling the nose-up attitude of the aircraft.

Midwest Airlines spokesman Michael J. Brophy gave an unusual account of what happened. Brophy told the New York Times an emergency slide carried in the MD-82's aft-tailcone exit began to deploy in flight, putting pressute on control cables leading to the aircraft's horizontal stablizer.

"As the pilot explained it to us, there was some stiffness in the controls," he said. "There was never a loss of control or anything like that," pointedly noting the problem was not related to earlier jackscrew problems on MD80-type aircraft, that brought down Alaska Airlines Flight 261 in January 2000.

Obama, who was heading to an event in Charlotte, NC with 44 members of his campaign team and the press corps, admitted to some apprehension when he heard the pilots were having problems.

"Anytime a pilot says that something's not working the way it's supposed to, then you know, you make sure you tighten you seat belt," he said after the aircraft made an uneventful landing at STL. "Everything seemed under control, the pilots knew what they were doing."

The incident marks the third time Obama has had difficulties related to air travel during his campaign. Earlier this year, a Gulfstream II carrying the Illinois senator clipped the wing of another plane parked on the ramp at Chicago's Midway Airport; in November 2007, Obama's plane accidentally landed in Des Moines, IA... about 150 miles west of its planned destination of Cedar Rapids, where he was to make a campaign appearance.

Obama was using the MD-80 while his regular plane, a Boeing 757, is undergoing maintenance and renovation, according to the campaign.

FMI: www.barackobama.com, www.midwestairlines.com

Advertisement

More News

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (06.04.25): NORDO (No Radio)

NORDO (No Radio) Aircraft that cannot or do not communicate by radio when radio communication is required are referred to as “NORDO.”>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (06.04.25)

Aero Linx: South Carolina Aviation Association (SCAA) Airports in South Carolina support the state’s economy and are themselves economic generators. Residents, businesses, an>[...]

Airborne 06.04.25: G100UL Legal Decision, FAA v Starship, Laser Conviction

Also: AV-8B Harrier For CAF Arizona, Boeing Gets ODA, Army NG Rescue, Longitude To C. America A California Superior Court judge recently ruled that GAMI’s unleaded avgas does>[...]

Airborne-NextGen 06.03.25: Hermeus Quarterhorse, VFS Forum, VX4 eVTOL

Also: Williams International Builds Up, Marines v Drones, NBAA v Tariffs, New GAMA Members Hermeus confirmed the flight of its Quarterhorse MK 1 aircraft at the Air Force Test Cent>[...]

ANN FAQ: Q&A 101

A Few Questions AND Answers To Help You Get MORE Out of ANN! 1) I forgot my password. How do I find it? 1) Easy... click here and give us your e-mail address--we'll send it to you >[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC