The plane carrying Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was forced to make an emergency landing on Wednesday due to a crack on its windshield.
Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell shared news of the scare in a post on X but emphasized that the Secretary and everyone onboard were safe.
“On the way back to the United States from NATO’s Defense Ministers meeting, Secretary of War Hegseth’s plane made an unscheduled landing in the United Kingdom due to a crack in the aircraft windshield,” Parnell wrote.
“The plane landed based on standard procedures and everyone onboard, including Secretary Hegseth, is safe,” he added.
Hegseth posted his own reaction to the emergency landing shortly after it was revealed.
“All good. Thank God. Continue mission!” he wrote on X.
The defense secretary was returning from a NATO meeting of defense ministers in Brussels when the plane diverted to the UK.
Tracking shows the Boeing C-32 departed Belgium and was headed over the Atlantic before turning back and quickly dropped to 10,000 feet as it made its way to the UK.
The visit on Wednesday was a short one as Hegseth was in the room seated just down from President Donald Trump Tuesday afternoon at the White House as he met with the president of Argentina Javier Milei.
This is not the first emergency landing that a U.S. flight crew has had to make while carrying top officials in recent months.
Last month, Marine One made an emergency landing in the UK with the president and first lady onboard due to a “hydraulic issue.” The helicopter landed at a nearby airfield out of an abundance of caution on its short flight to bring the couple to Air Force One. They were then transferred and safely made the rest of their journey.
The Daily Beast has asked the Pentagon for more details about Hegseth’s emergency landing and plans for his return to the U.S.
While at the NATO meeting, the defense secretary made news by indicated that Ukraine would be receiving more “firepower” from the U.S. in the fight against Russia. He did not go into detail on whether that would include American-made Tomahawk missiles.
