A U.S. Coast Guard aircraft carrying Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin lost its right engine midflight Wednesday and was forced to divert for an emergency landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
The C-37A jet had 14 people on board, and everyone landed safely.
Mullin described the incident in a post on X.
“The United States Coast Guard pilots made the single engine landing feel routine,” he said. “No panic, just straight professionalism. After we landed, the pilots told me that was a first for them! We could not have been in better hands.”
No injuries were reported as a result of the incident.
Details on the aircraft’s origin point and exact route were not immediately released by officials. The cause of the engine failure is still under review.
No further official statements from the Coast Guard or the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) detailed the mechanical issue or any subsequent inspection findings as of late Wednesday.
The Coast Guard and DHS did not immediately return a request for comment.
The plane involved in the incident has been in service since 2002, and it is based at Air Station Washington.
Wednesday’s emergency landing follows a July incident involving Air Force One. In August, President Donald Trump said the Secret Service directed him to switch aircraft when leaving Turkey in July due to a security threat.
“It’s only up to Secret Service,” the president told reporters. “I just follow what they’d like to do. So, I go by Secret Service and the military. They wanted me to go on a different flight, a different plane.”
“I guess there was a threat out there,” he said. “I didn’t really ask too much about it.”
White House communications director Steven Cheung said July 9 the change formed part of a “distraction and misdirection” strategy against threats.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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