On Wednesday, September 2nd, a plane carrying United States Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin and other senior Homeland Security officials made an emergency landing due to engine failure.
Mullin was aboard a C-37A plane belonging to the United States Coast Guard, flying from Georgia to Washington, D.C. After one of the engines experienced a malfunction, the aircraft was redirected to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Virginia for an emergency landing.
A recording reveals that the pilot informed the airport tower during the incident: “We just had a right engine failure and need to make an emergency landing at Reagan National Airport.” The pilot also informed air traffic controllers that there were 14 people on board and they had fuel to fly for 2.5 hours.
“The Coast Guard pilot made this single-engine landing appear effortless. There was no panic, just full professionalism. After landing, the pilot told me that this was their first single-engine landing! We couldn’t have asked for better care,” Mullin wrote on the social media platform X.
The airport stated in a release that the plane “landed safely, was thoroughly checked by the airport authority’s fire and rescue personnel, and subsequently left the runway.”
According to CBS News, Homeland Security had previously expressed concerns about this aging aircraft. Last year, Homeland Security stated in a release that the Coast Guard aircraft “has a 22-year service life and faces serious issues of outdated aviation electronic equipment and communication systems.”
The department’s expenditure plan for the 2025 fiscal year sought approximately $50 million to replace the old Coast Guard government plane used to transport senior officials. This request drew close attention from members of Congress, including Democratic Representative Lauren Underwood. She questioned the proposed procurement to Coast Guard leadership during an appropriations hearing.