Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s plane circled the airwaves around the Mexican capital for endless hours due to a “technical problem” before it finally returned and landed at the airport from which it had departed, Brazilian authorities said.

The plane took off yesterday after noon (local time) from Felipe Angeles, one of the two international airports in the Mexican capital, to bring back to Brazil President Lula, who was present at the inauguration ceremony of the new Mexican president, Claudia Sheinbaum , and the other members of the Brazilian government delegation.

During the return flight, the crew of the Brazilian aircraft found that there was a problem and “successfully applied safety procedures to resolve it,” Brazilian Air Force Brigadier General Marcelo Canic told the press.

The pilots had to “consume the necessary amount of fuel” before the plane could land safely, Brigadier Kanich explained.

According to data from the specialized website FlightAware, which monitors air traffic in real time, the aircraft took off at 14:19 (local time; 23:19 Greek time) and landed at 19:17 (04:17),

It spent most of the flight circling at an altitude of 3,540 meters, at a speed of 467 kilometers per hour.

It then headed back to Felipe Angeles Airport for the crew and passengers to “change aircraft and return to Brasilia,” according to the same source.

The Brazilian government released a video showing the head of state getting off the plane.

“President Lula and the delegation landed safely after the technical problem on the aircraft,” he noted, without explaining how serious, or what exactly, this “problem” was.

The twin-engine Airbus A319 has been in service for 20 years, having been purchased during Lula’s first term in office in 2004 and given the nickname ‘Aerolula’ at the time.

It was also used by his successors in the country’s top office (Jilma Houssef, Michel Temer, Jáich Bolsonaro).