On Wednesday, September 2, a U.S. Coast Guard aircraft carrying Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin was forced to make an emergency landing at Reagan Airport in Washington. According to The Wall Street Journal, as cited by RBC-Ukraine, the incident was caused by the failure of one of the aircraft's engines. The pilots declared an emergency, specifying that 14 people were on board.
The Incident: Engine Failure in Flight
According to media reports, the problem arose during the daytime on September 2. As the Coast Guard pilot told air traffic controllers on the ground, "our right engine has failed, and we would like to declare an emergency." The crew then directed the aircraft to a forced landing at the capital's Reagan Airport, where the plane landed safely.
Emergency Landing at Reagan Airport
The maneuver of landing on a single functioning engine was carried out smoothly, with no reports of injuries or damage. According to WSJ, Mullin and several other senior department officials on board were unharmed. The crew, the minister said, handled the abnormal situation in accordance with protocols.
The Minister's Reaction and the Status of Passengers
Markwayne Mullin himself commented on the incident on the social network X, calling the crew's actions exemplary. "The U.S. Coast Guard pilots made a single-engine landing look completely routine. No panic, just impeccable professionalism. After landing, the pilots told me that this was their first such incident," he wrote. Thus, the department's official position underscores both the absence of injuries and the crew's smooth handling of the situation.
About the Gulfstream C-37A Aircraft
According to the U.S. Coast Guard website, the Gulfstream C-37A aircraft has been used to transport senior officials since 2002. Modified aircraft based on commercial Gulfstream business jets are used by other civilian and military agencies as well, making this type of aircraft common in U.S. government aviation.
Contradictory Data
There is a difference in emphasis in the description of the incident. The headlines of several outlets state that the engine "failed and caught fire," whereas in the pilot's direct quote transmitted to controllers, the reference is specifically to a failure of the right engine with no mention of a fire. In other words, the version about an engine fire appears in editorial descriptions but is not confirmed in the crew's quote. Both versions coexist in open sources, and the final technical picture will likely be clarified following the investigation.
Context: Recent Incidents Involving U.S. Aviation
The incident involving Mullin's aircraft comes against the backdrop of a series of recent abnormal situations in U.S. government aviation. Thus, on September 18, 2025, a helicopter carrying President Donald Trump and his wife Melania made an emergency landing in London due to a hydraulic problem, and on August 4 a helicopter carrying Trump, due to communication problems, flew within less than 1.5 km of a passenger plane over Washington. These events underscore heightened attention to the safety of government flights.
