Jaunted

Travel Hell

Tony Blair's Jet in Near-Accident

February 14, 2006 at 8:16 AM | 0 Comments

Tony Blair had what sounds like a very close shave yesterday, when an engine on his chartered DC8 failed immediately before takeoff. The chartered plane, which was nearly 40 years old, had reached a speed of 90 mph when the failure occurred; the flight from South Africa back to London was then cancelled. Because the takeoff was at 11 pm, no other flights were available until the morning. Blair missed a major vote back in London and had to stay overnight with the British High Commissioner. A Downing Street spokesman played things cool, saying that "In the technical jargon, this is termed a minor incident." Stiff upper lip, we suppose.

Related Stories:
·   Blair has brush with disaster [London Times]
·   Blair's Plane Is Halted [Guardian]