Canoe

OTTAWA (CP) -- A preliminary investigation into loss of pressure on Prime Minister Jean Chretien's plane last week points to the failure of a component that lets air out of the cabin.

Lt.-Col. David Mulcair, commander of the squadron that flies the Challenger fleet used by Chretien and his cabinet ministers, said it's the first trouble with the system on the 16-year-old jet.

Mulcair said the plane took off from Stockholm on July 22 and reached 27,000 feet when there was loss of pressure. Pressure inside the cabin momentarily reached the same levels as those outside the craft.

Oxygen masks dropped down and the prime minister and crew were in no danger as the plane returned to Stockholm.

Mulcair says it looks as if the failure was not the result of lack of maintenance or crew error.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), June 29, 2001