Obama’s Plane Makes Unscheduled Stop for Safety Check

Julianna Goldman
Bloomberg
Monday, July 7, 2008

Barak Obama’s presidential campaign plane landed safely in St. Louis in an unscheduled stop caused by a maintenance issue, forcing him to change the location of a planned economic speech.

The landing was a “precautionary” measure, Obama adviser Linda Douglass said.

The first officer said the pilot had difficulty controlling the pitch of the plane, requiring a diversion of the flight. Obama intended to fly from his home in Chicago to Charlotte, North Carolina, to give a speech touting his economic plans.

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Obama will deliver his prepared remarks at the Drury Inn at the St. Louis airport this afternoon. He spoke via telephone for almost 10 minutes to the gathering in Charlotte, apologizing for missing the event, criticizing Republican rival John McCain and promising to bring economic relief to working families.

“John McCain wants to continue the same policies that George Bush made the cornerstone of his administration,” Obama told the group of about 275 people. “They haven’t worked, and the message that we need to spread all across North Carolina is that if you are satisfied with the way things are going now, then you should vote for John McCain.”

Temporary Plane

• A d v e r t i s e m e n t

Obama, nine aides, 10 security agents and about 20 journalists were aboard the plane, a chartered Midwest Airlines MD-80 being used temporarily while the North American Airlines 757 the campaign normally uses is being reconfigured.

Obama, 46, an Illinois senator, made light of the incident this morning.

“I just thought we’d spice things up a little bit today,” he joked to reporters at the back of the plane as they waited on the tarmac.

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