Mechanical glitch forces Bush to switch planes
From Matt Byrne
CNN
OAK RIDGE, Tennessee (CNN) -- President Bush switched to a backup presidential airliner Monday during a trip to Tennessee due to a minor mechanical problem with his regular plane, an administration official said.
The official said that a wing flap on the presidential Boeing 747 had fallen off its track and that Bush transferred to a Boeing 757 dispatched from Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. A plane is only designated Air Force One while the president is aboard.
Before his departure from Knoxville, Tennessee, Bush had delivered a speech on fighting terrorism at the nearby Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Bush's schedule was not affected by the switch, the official added.
The 747 will be flown back to Andrews and repaired there, the official said.
The jet is equipped with multiple flaps on the leading and trailing edges of each wing, and pilots said the malfunction of a single flap would not significantly affect the pilot's ability to control the plane.
CNN's Kathleen Koch contributed to this report.
