Plane carrying Bachelet entourage to Russia has engine failure

CANARY ISLANDS.- Engine failure in the Boeing 767 aircraft transporting President Michelle Bachelet's entourage to Russia forced the plane to remain grounded in the Canary Islands.

The incident took place at approximately 3:00am Chilean time, when the group of business leaders, organization directors and Members of Parliament landed for a technical layover in the city of Las Palmas.

After spending close to one hour on the ground, the pilot of the aircraft, Rafael Carrera, informed the passengers that there was a possible oil leak in the right engine of the plane. The situation required that the engine be examined, which meant that the group would not be able to continue on to St. Petersburg in accordance with the originally planned itinerary.

The unforeseen event caused a delay of approximately 12 hours, as the passengers waited for another aircraft to arrive from Santiago.

President Bachelet –who planned to arrive in the Russian city from Qatar- was not present on the plane, however her son, Sebastián Dávalos, had accompanied the large delegation of union leaders.