So, when was the last time an executive Air Force aircraft malfunctioned?

[Oddball]

30 minutes in and the "malfunction" didn't precipitate an immediate landing to the nearest available airfield?

I call BULLSHIT!

Seems to me that AF1 had an emergency return as a precaution when Obama was POTUS due to the air conditioning system goofing up.

That's an actual problem at altitude....You have O2 levels to worry about just as much as cabin temps.

A print reporter on board said that there was an "unusual noise" coming from the landing gear during takeoff Harris safely returns to air base after plane has 'technical issue' while departing for first foreign trip

Reasonably plausible cause for a return to base...Though I do wonder what took them 30 minutes to make the call.....Certainly not an in-flight emergency, with potential catastrophic results.

Did they find Pinball squished in the landing gear doors?

 

[Dekster]

30 minutes in and the "malfunction" didn't precipitate an immediate landing to the nearest available airfield?

I call BULLSHIT!

Seems to me that AF1 had an emergency return as a precaution when Obama was POTUS due to the air conditioning system goofing up.

That's an actual problem at altitude....You have O2 levels to worry about just as much as cabin temps.

A print reporter on board said that there was an "unusual noise" coming from the landing gear during takeoff Harris safely returns to air base after plane has 'technical issue' while departing for first foreign trip

Reasonably plausible cause for a return to base...Though I do wonder what took them 30 minutes to make the call.....Certainly not an in-flight emergency, with potential catastrophic results.

Did they find Pinball squished in the landing gear doors?

IDK. I sort of wonder if someone left a wrench in it or they crushed a stowaway trying to escape Biden's Reign of Terror by fleeing to the freedom of Guatemala

I assume they flew out over the ocean to dump fuel and then turned back but don't want to tell their supporters they killed flipper with 4K gallons of Jet-A raining down on him.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

DID WE GET THE 'SPIRACY ALL FIGURED OUT, MORONS?

 

[FA_Q2]

30 minutes in and the "malfunction" didn't precipitate an immediate landing to the nearest available airfield?

I call BULLSHIT!

Only because you have no idea how Aircraft are maintained or what the myriad of possible malfunctions may precipitate.

This is perfectly normal.

I have been both a fixed wing pilot and was in A&P school at one point in time...I know how aircraft are maintained and what real emergencies are.....In fact, I've had in-flight hardware failures that caused an immediate grounding.

If what happened was a real "emergency" the plane would have sought out the nearest suitable airfield.....Turning around a jet aircraft 30 minutes out, to land at it's originating field, does not constitute any kind of in-flight emergency.

Well, not necessarily an IFE but there are a ton of grounding conditions that will scrap a mission but not force an immediate landing at the nearest airstrip. This is FAR more likely with anyone on board that also requires the security that the VP requires. You seem to think it is no small thing for the VP to simply land somewhere unannounced.

If you have been in aircraft maintenance you would know that. That you were a 'fixed wing pilot' is rather irrelevant unless you were commercially rated. Piloting a 2 seater Cessna has even remotely similar processes than flying a passenger aircraft. I maintained C-17 aircraft for over a decade and I can name a number of issues that could happen an hour after flight that would force a return to station but not landing at the nearest airfield. I have seen it happen many times too. It happened FAR more often than an IFE to the nearest airstrip as that causes a thousand other problems such as actually repairing the aircraft to get it back to home station. Similar to the aircraft that service the President and the VP, those planes have to be where they are supposed to be. A standard commercial aircraft can be anywhere on the planet the parent company does business. Those aircraft cannot.

 

[FA_Q2]

DID WE GET THE 'SPIRACY ALL FIGURED OUT, MORONS?

Apparently not....