MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Presidential aircraft Tango 01's turbine catches fire.

With Argentine president Nestor Kirchner on board was forced to land fifteen minutes after take off when one of two engines caught fire.

Midday Tuesday President Kirchner, two cabinet ministers and staff left Buenos Aires metropolitan airport on board the Boeing 757/200 heading northeast for the province of Entre Rios to participate in the century celebration of a local town.

However when Tango 01 was climbing the left engine began to fail so pilots cut it off and headed for a nearby Air Force base where they landed safely fifteen minutes later. "In such cases, the engine makes a big noise because it tries to turn off but it turns on again, and this continues to happen until it loses power," said the pilot. "This noise may sound as explosions."

"In order to guarantee the safety of the President, an exhaustive investigation has been ordered to look into the causes of the incident," said Presidential Chief-of-Staff José Pampuro in a written statement.

This is the first time Kirchner suffers a scare on board of the presidential plane since he took office in May last year. But the President already underwent two glitches on helicopters transporting him in the provinces of Jujuy and Mendoza in August last year and in March this year respectively.

Cabinet Chief Alberto Fernández said that Kirchner was "fine and calm" after the emergency landing. "Thank goodness nothing happened," said Fernández. "It was just a scare."

Interior Minister Aníbal Fernández and Planning and Investment Minister Julio De Vido were part of the delegation accompanying the President to the Entre Ríos province town of María Grande. Kirchner was scheduled to attend a ceremony to mark the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the town, located some 370 kilometers north of Buenos Aires. He was to announced public works for 29 million pesos there.

Losada, the air force spokesman, said that the president's aircraft undergoes rigorous maintenance and frequent inspection. The Tango 01 gets a full check every 15,000 hours of flying. "It had not reached 8,000 hours yet," said Losada.

One witness of the plane's takeoff at the metropolitan airport said that he saw the left turbine "spitting fire." Others said the plane produced at least 12 explosions while on the air. "At one point it looked as thought it would fall to the ground," one said.

Tango 01 was purchased for $66 million during Menem's administration the Boeing 757/200 carries 200 people and comes equipped with gold plated taps and a giant bed.