An engine failed aboard a US Coast Guard aircraft carrying Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, forcing an emergency landing Wednesday afternoon.
The pilot of Coast Guard flight 101 radioed air traffic controllers at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport with an urgent message, captured in a recording by ATC.com.
“We just lost our right engine and would like to declare an emergency,” the pilot told controllers as the situation unfolded at altitude.
The aircraft involved was a C-37A jet, a military variant of the Gulfstream V, which had departed from Lawson Army Airfield near Columbus, Georgia roughly an hour and a half before the incident.
Flight tracking data from open source site ADS-B Exchange confirmed the plane’s route and departure point before the engine failure forced the crew to act.
The pilot reported 14 people were onboard and that the plane carried enough fuel to remain airborne for another two and a half hours before the decision to land was made.
The plane touched down safely and taxied off the runway, with a pair of airport firetrucks following close behind as a precaution.
Mullin praised the flight crew on social media after the ordeal, writing, “The United States Coast Guard pilots made the single engine landing feel routine. No panic, just straight professionalism.”
Mullin added that the pilots shared a notable detail after landing, writing, “After we landed, the pilots told me that was a first for them! We could not have been in better hands.”
The Coast Guard operates as a component of DHS and regularly uses one of two long-range command and control aircraft to transport the secretary on official travel.
Questions about the aging fleet are not new, as Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin previously issued a stark warning in a statement posted online about the aircraft’s condition.
“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,” McLaughlin said, adding, “This is a matter of safety.”
Two Congressional Democrats also weighed in on the fleet issue in a letter to then Secretary Kristy Noem, criticizing a request for $50 million to purchase a replacement plane while noting many other Coast Guard aircraft were significantly older.
