WASHINGTON, May 15 — Former US President Donald Trump’s private Boeing 757 clipped another corporate jet while taxiing at West Palm Beach International Airport in Florida on Sunday, a source familiar with the incident said yesterday.
The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that a privately owned 757 contacted a parked and unoccupied corporate jet at the south Florida airport. The FAA statement did not identify the plane as belonging to Trump.
The incident occurred in an area of the airport where the FAA does not direct aircraft, the agency said, adding that it is investigating.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump held a rally in Wildwood, New Jersey, on Saturday. The incident occurred after the plane landed at the West Palm Beach airport at about 1.20am on Sunday.
Trump’s 757 is a staple of airport presidential campaign rallies and at one rally in Ohio in March a voice announced: “Trump Force One, you are cleared for landing.”
Trump purchased his US$100 million Boeing 757 in 2010 and the heavily customised plane includes gold plated accents, two private guestrooms, three bathrooms, dining and conference areas and an extensive entertainment system. The plane was built in 1991.
Trump in January urged Boeing to resume building the 757, which it discontinued in 2004. “Boeing should bring back the 757, the most beautiful, best handling plane (from the pilots standpoint!) that Boeing ever made,” he said on social media. — Reuters
