Bulgarian government aircraft carrying PM makes emergency landing at Varna Airport
A Bulgarian government Falcon aircraft with Prime Minister Boiko Borissov on board made an emergency landing on the evening of August 30 at Varna Airport after problems with the plane’s landing gear.
The aircraft carrying Borissov had been intended to fly from the Bulgarian Black Sea city to Plovdiv for the opening of a new sports facility.
But after a problem with the landing gear was detected, the aircraft was flown back over Varna, circling several times over the sea to burn fuel before landing.
This is the latest incident in which the Falcon had landing gear problems on a flight carrying the Prime Minister. In the previous incident, it emerged in subsequent news reports that as Borissov was in the plane circling over Sofia, he telephoned instructions to deputy prime minister Tomislav Donchev about what actions should be taken should the flight crash.
Bulgarian National Radio reported on August 30 that Transport Minister Ivailo Moskovski, who also was on the flight that had been headed for Plovdiv, said that the aircraft would be sent to Switzerland for a technical check-up, possibily followed by a major technical review by the French manufacturers.
Moskovski said that when the problem with the landing gear was detected, “people were a little worried, but that’s normal” while Borissov remained calm.
Borissov was expected to transfer to another aircraft to fly to Sofia later in the evening.
