Empty tequila bottles were found on under-construction Air Force One Boeing 747 jets

Boeing is investigating the discovery of empty liquor bottles found inside a plane set to become the new Air Force One, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Two small bottles of tequila were found this month on a Boeing 747-8 under construction in San Antonio, The Journal said, prompting the company to launch an investigation.

Boeing has supplied the official air transport to US presidents for decades. The Pentagon said in 2016 it had tasked it to manufacture two new Boeing 747-8 aircraft to replace the two 747-200s now used by US presidents.

Where the bottles were found on the 747-8 is not clear. Alcohol is banned at the Boeing facility, The Journal said.

A Boeing spokesperson told Insider it was a personnel matter and that it could not comment due to contractual reasons.

When completed, the Boeing 747-8 will be the longest commercial passenger jet in the world, according to the company. The total cost of the new aircraft to the US is $5.3 billion, according to DefenseOne.

The planes, which bear the designation VC-25B, are not known as Air Force One yet but will use that call sign once a US president travels on board.

But the program has been delayed.

In May, Lt. Gen. Duke Richardson, the military deputy for the Air Force’s acquisition, technology and logistics enterprise, said Boeing was delaying delivery of the new aircraft until 2025. businessinsider.in