Rushing to meet President Donald Trump's demand that the Qatar-gifted jet enter service early, officials cut safety features and watched costs soar during the conversion process. [AP]
Rushing to meet President Donald Trump's demand that the Qatar-gifted jet enter service early, officials cut safety features and watched costs soar during the conversion process. [AP]

President Donald Trump's push to fast-track a Boeing 747-8 gifted by Qatar into service as Air Force One drove up costs sharply and stripped out key safety features during a rushed conversion, according to a new report.

The New York Times reported Saturday that Trump made an unannounced visit to Palm Beach International Airport in Florida last February to inspect the interior of the jet, which had been fitted out for Qatar's royal family. News of Qatar's donation followed shortly after.

The visit sparked debate at the time over whether Qatar had offered the aircraft on its own initiative or whether the Trump administration had solicited the gift.

The White House and the Defense Ministry then set a schedule to complete the conversion in roughly eight months — an extraordinarily compressed timeline driven by Trump's insistence that the plane be ready for the United States' 250th anniversary on July 4 this year.

The breakneck pace came at a cost to safety.

Several features standard on existing Air Force One aircraft were left out of the converted jet, including lower-fuselage emergency escape hatches, additional backup power units and an advanced infrared missile defense system.

The costs have also drawn fire.

On top of the roughly $400 million conversion cost the administration publicly disclosed, an additional $400 million went toward chartering a separate aircraft and hastily purchasing a used plane — ostensibly to begin early training for pilots assigned to the new jet.

The Defense Ministry covered part of those additional costs by drawing from the budget of Sentinel, the nuclear force modernization project, The New York Times said.

The Times had previously reported that $934 million from the Sentinel program had been transferred to an undisclosed classified project.

Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat, criticized the arrangement. "They disclosed the cost of the old Air Force One conversion, but they're hiding this project from Congress under the guise of national security," he said. "That is absolutely unacceptable."


greg@heraldcorp.com