A second Polaris aircraft is heading to India where Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Canadian delegation from the G20 have been stranded after a "technical issue" was discovered in the original aircraft shortly before departure. The Prime Minister's Office says a backup Airbus, CFC002, left Trenton and is en route to India to pick up the delegation.

The public flight tracking program shows that the Airbus left CFB Trenton at 8 PM Eastern Time on Sunday and stopped in England early Monday morning.

Prime Minister's Press Secretary Mohamed Hussain said in a statement, "Currently, carbon chloro-fluoride 002 is en route, and we will work on departing tomorrow morning, but we are aware that the situation is fluid."

The Prime Minister was scheduled to leave New Delhi on Sunday evening following the G20 summit. However, during pre-flight checks, the Canadian Armed Forces grounded the CFC001 aircraft due to a technical issue that could not be fixed overnight.

The Department of National Defence says the maintenance issue involves a component that needs to be replaced.

The department wrote in a statement, "The safety of all passengers is paramount for the RCAF, and safety checks before flights are a regular part of all our flight protocols." "The discovery of this issue is indicative of the effectiveness of these protocols."

This is not the first time that the Airbus aircraft has caused problems for Trudeau and his entourage.

A problem occurred in October 2016 that required the aircraft to return to Ottawa 30 minutes after taking off with the Prime Minister, who was on his way to Belgium to sign the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between Canada and the European Union.

Then, in October 2019, a VIP aircraft collided with a wall while being towed to the hangar at 8 Wing Trenton in Ontario, resulting in significant structural damage to the front and the right engine cover, according to the Royal Canadian Air Force.

As a result, the aircraft remained out of service for several months that year. A backup aircraft was used to transport Trudeau to the NATO summit in December 2019, but it stopped in London when the Royal Canadian Air Force discovered a problem with one of the engines.

The lifespan of the Polaris fleet, which includes five aircraft, is expected to end in 2027. According to government officials, extending this timeline further would be challenging due to the age of the equipment.

The federal government announced in July that it had signed a deal worth approximately $3.6 billion to replace the aging fleet.

The updated fleet includes four new aircraft and five used aircraft that will be outfitted to have the same capabilities. The federal government purchased the used aircraft from a company in Kuwait.

The first of the new Husky fleet aircraft arrived in Canada on August 31. The Department of National Defence says aircrew training, among other tasks, must be completed before the aircraft can be put into service.

The aircraft that arrived in August, which is currently sitting on the runway at Ottawa International Airport with a Government of Canada sticker, will ultimately be used to transport government officials including the Prime Minister, and a second gray Husky aircraft is expected to arrive in the fall.

The National Defence says that the two used CC-330 Huskies are expected to enter service this fall.

The Department of National Defence wrote in a statement, "The current Polaris CC-150 fleet will be retired in phases as the new A330 Husky fleet is integrated and ready for full operations."