Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s plane breaks down during his family vacation in Jamaica

It’s déjà vu for the prime minister after his plane broke down during his family vacation in Jamaica, the second such incident in a span of months.

The Department of National Defence (DND) says a challenger plane was sent to Jamaica this week to support Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family, who arrived in the Caribbean country on Dec. 26.

“A maintenance issue on the CC-144 was discovered during an inspection of the aircraft on January 2, prior to the Prime Minister’s departure date,” wrote Andrée-Anne Poulin, a spokesperson for the federal department, in a statement.

DND says that second plane included a maintenance team.

“A maintenance team and aircraft were then dispatched and returned the aircraft to serviceability on January 3. The aircraft remained in the area as a back-up if necessary, and the Prime Minister was able to return on the original aircraft,” Poulin added.

Publicly available flight tracking websites show Challenger flight CFC001, the number used when the prime minister flies, departed Montego Bay, Jamaica on Jan. 4 and landed in Ottawa at 8:56 p.m.

The same flight data shows a second Challenger plane was sent to Montego Bay from Ottawa on Jan. 3. That same plane took off less than 24 hours later, landing back in Ottawa on Jan. 4 at 9:17 p.m.

A second Challenger CFC001 departed Montego Bay on Jan. 4 and landed in Ottawa at 8:56 p.m.

Trudeau left for Jamaica on Dec. 26 for a vacation with his immediate family, including Sophie Gregoire Trudeau. He was always scheduled to return Jan. 4.

This is not the first time the prime minister’s jet has broken down while out of the country. In September, the government of Canada’s larger CC-150 Polaris plane was grounded shortly before takeoff, stranding the prime minister, his delegation and travelling media for two extra nights in India.

The plane was grounded after an issue was discovered during pre-flight checks. A RCAF technician carrying a necessary part to fix the grounded plane was flown to India from Canada. A back-up plane and crew were also sent just in case.

The prime minister does not fly on commercial flights for security reasons.

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) had previously said Trudeau would reimburse the “equivalent” of a commercial airline ticket for his personal travel and that of his family.

The Trudeau family also travelled to Jamaica for the Christmas break in 2022 on a trip that cost roughly 160,000 because of travel, security and personnel costs.

PMO says both trips were approved by the office of the ethics commissioner.