Photo: Finn Gomez / Getty Images News / Getty Images
A U.S. Coast Guard plane carrying Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin made an emergency landing after suffering engine failure Wednesday afternoon at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. According to a recording shared by ATC.com and reported by CNN, the pilot of Coast Guard flight 101 announced, “We just lost our right engine and would like to declare an emergency,” as the C-37A jet approached the airport.
The aircraft, a military version of the Gulfstream V, had departed from Lawson Army Airfield near Columbus, Georgia, a little more than ninety minutes earlier. Fourteen people were on board, and the pilot relayed that there was enough fuel for two-and-a-half more hours of flight. After the right engine failed and reportedly caught fire, the plane landed safely, with firetrucks standing by as a precaution.
Secretary Markwayne Mullin later posted on social media: “The United States Coast Guard pilots made the single engine landing feel routine. 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.”
The Coast Guard is a division of the Department of Homeland Security and routinely transports the secretary in one of two long-range command and control jets. The specific plane involved in Wednesday’s incident is over twenty years old, and agency leaders have previously cited concerns about the age and maintenance of the aircraft fleet. In a statement last year, Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said, “The current CG-101 G550 is over 20 years old, outside of Gulfstream’s service life, and well beyond operational usage hours for a corporate aircraft. This is a matter of safety,” according to CNN.
No injuries were reported, and all passengers and crew were unharmed. The Coast Guard directed further questions to the Department of Homeland Security, which referred to Secretary Mullin’s public statement for comment on the incident.