Problem in airplane forces president to return to airport

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva suffered a minor scare this Wednesday, when the official presidential plane he was traveling in suffered a problem in its navigation equipment. According to the Brazilian media, the tool that calculates the plane's altitude in relation to the ground stopped functioning properly 20 minutes into a flight from Brasilia to Rio de Janeiro, which normally lasts 1 hour and a half. Without the system, officials determined it would be difficult to land the plane in case of poor weather conditions, and instead opted to return to Brasilia. The president was offered the option of boarding another plane, but instead decided to remain in Brasilia and not show up at an event he had been expected to attend in Rio.