An airplane carrying Secretary of Conflict Pete Hegseth was compelled to make an emergency touchdown within the UK Wednesday as a result of a crack in its windshield, officers stated.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell wrote on social media that on the best way again to the U.S. after NATO’s Protection Minister assembly in Belgium, the aircraft made an “unscheduled touchdown in the UK” due to a crack within the plane’s windshield.
The aircraft landed primarily based on commonplace procedures, and all the passengers on board, together with Hegseth, have been protected, Parnell added.
“All good. Thank God,” Hegseth wrote on X. “Proceed mission!”
Hegseth was touring in a C-32A, a modified Boeing 757 utilized by the Air Power for VIP transport. Different high leaders, together with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice President JD Vance and sometimes, even President Donald Trump, use the plane when visiting airports with runways too quick for the modified Boeing-747 Trump usually makes use of as Air Power One.
It was unclear what brought on the crack within the aircraft’s windshield.
Flight monitoring information confirmed that the aircraft took off from Brussels and made it previous Eire earlier than turning round to land at Royal Air Power Mildenhall in England at 7:07 p.m. native time. It was not recognized what time the aircraft initially took off.
Hegseth and former Secretaries of Defence have historically used a special plane for overseas journey, the Boeing E-4B.
The Boeing E-4B is a modified Boeing-747 that has been hardened to be used as an airborne command put up by the president or Pentagon management throughout nuclear conflicts. It’s recognized inside the Air Power as “Air Power One when it counts” and the “Doomsday aircraft.”
It was not instantly clear why Hegseth was touring on the smaller, C-32 aircraft.
The C-32, which needed to carry out an emergency touchdown, has much less capabilities than the E-4B, however is decked out with a extra luxurious inside due to upgrades made throughout Trump’s first time period as president.
Throughout his time in Brussels, Hegseth warned the U.S. would “impose prices on Russia for its continued aggression” if the struggle in Ukraine doesn’t come to an finish.
“If we should take this step, the U.S. Conflict Division stands able to do our half in ways in which solely the US can do,” Hegseth stated at a gathering of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group of Kyiv’s allies at NATO headquarters.
Hegseth didn’t elaborate. His feedback got here as Trump’s administration is contemplating a request by Ukraine for long-range Tomahawk missiles.
Earlier this 12 months, an Air Power aircraft carrying Rubio to Munich was compelled to return to Washington after experiencing a mechanical drawback.
