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Tequila bottles found on new Air Force One in development in San Antonio, report says

Heavily modified 747-8 aircraft being developed at Port San Antonio

Air Force One, carrying U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden arrives at RAF Mildenhall, near Bury St Edmunds, in eastern England, Wednesday, June 9, 2021. Biden will attend the G7 summit in Cornwall in southwest England. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham) (Matt Dunham, Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

SAN ANTONIO – Two empty miniature bottles of tequila were found this month on one of Boeing’s new Air Force One planes under development at Port San Antonio, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Boeing has launched an investigation into the incident, which the company called a personnel matter. A determination couldn’t be made where on the plane the bottles were found.

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While this is not the first time items such as tools, rags and other factory garbage have been left on Boeing commercial and military aircraft in recent years, this incident is considered pretty serious because it involves alcohol and highly classified jets, which will be known as Air Force One when a U.S. president is on board, the report said.

Security clearances are required of employees to work on the aircraft, which is a heavily modified 747-8 aircraft known as VC-25B military variants.

A White House spokesman referred questions about the incident to the U.S. Air Force, which said that Boeing informed the service branch about the personnel matter and that there was no effect on the aircraft modification.

The Air Force and Defense Contract Management Agency, which oversees Pentagon suppliers, monitors production quality closely and holds “Boeing accountable to ensure the VC-25B program meets stringent quality-control requirements,” an Air Force spokeswoman said in the report.

The Pentagon contract agency said it takes factory-debris incidents seriously and works with contractors to correct such issues.

Click here to read more of the Wall Street Journal’s story.

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About the Author
David Ibañez headshot

David Ibañez has been managing editor of KSAT.com since the website's launch in October 2000.

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