Emergency Slide Accidentally Deployed by Personnel on New Air Force One Before Trump Flew to Texas

U.S, Air Force personnel work after an emergency inflatable slide deployed before President Donald Trump arrived to board at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

By Jacki Thrapp

Jacki Thrapp

Jacki Thrapp is an Emmy® Award-winning journalist based in Nashville. She previously worked at The New York Post, Fox News Channel and has written a series of Off-Broadway musicals in NYC. Contact her at jacki.thrapp@epochtimes.us

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September 9, 2026Updated: September 9, 2026

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The new Air Force One’s emergency slide was accidentally deployed on Sept. 9 before President Donald Trump boarded to attend the first-ever 2026 Republican Midterm Convention.

The inflatable slide popped out shortly before the president was scheduled to board the plane and fly to Dallas for the high-profile GOP event.

When Trump was asked by a reporter if he was confident the plane was safe to fly, the president responded, “Yeah, I am, or I wouldn’t be on it.”

“As the President has said, the slide was checked out to make sure everything works perfectly,” White House communications director Steven Cheung told The Epoch Times via email on Wednesday.

“Air Force One is on its way to Dallas so he can deliver his much-anticipated speech to a raucous and sold-out crowd.”

Trump is scheduled to give the keynote address during the first night of the 2026 Republican Convention around 9:00 p.m. ET. The president will speak on Thursday to close out the event too.

A White House official separately told The Epoch Times that “military personnel accidentally triggered the slide” ahead of boarding.

The emergency slide was taken away before Trump boarded the jet, which is worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Trump started flying on the jet in July after the government accepted the plane from Qatar as a gift in 2025.

Days after the plane started transporting the president, the Secret Service made Trump switch planes first to the old Air Force One plane, and then secretly to an unmarked C-32A military jet, to depart for a two-day NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey.

White House communications director Steven Cheung revealed on July 9 that the switch-up was part of a “distraction and misdirection” strategy intended to address threats against the president.

The plane is being used as the interim presidential aircraft while the White House waits for the fully equipped VC-25B planes, which are expected to arrive at the end of Trump’s second term.

The Boeing VC-25B planes were supposed to arrive in 2024 but have been delayed for years and aren’t expected to be ready for flight until mid-2028.

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