Pilot of presidential plane describes complication that forced the private aircraft to return to Chile

SANTIAGO. -  “The plane began to shake.  They checked the equipment and verified that there was a problem with engine number 2”, says Pilot Rafael Carrera, who, early this morning was forced to make an emergency return to Chile after detecting a technical problem in Uruguay.

Carrere stated that the engine began to fail after taking off from Montevideo, “just as we were reaching approximately 22 thousand feet”.

The pilot asserted that after the crew verified that engine number 2 of the Boeing 707 “was not functioning within a normal flight range” a decision was made to apply an emergency measure “and we had to cut power to engine number 2”. 

Carrere explained that the procedure is “well practiced” and that the plane “can fly perfectly fine with three engines (...) We decided to return to Santiago, which was the best option in order to be able to fix the problem and arrive before any further complications could occur”.