After experiencing a mechanical problem late Thursday, an Air Force aircraft that was transporting Secretary of State Marco Rubio to Germany for the Munich Security Conference was reportedly forced to return to Washington.
About 90 minutes after the aircraft departed from Joint Base Andrews outside of Washington, the C-32, a converted Boeing 757, developed a problem with what one officer claimed was the cockpit windshield.
Rubio intends to continue his trip on a different aircraft, but it was unclear at first whether the delay would prevent him from attending a planned Friday morning meeting in Munich with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vice President JD Vance.
The Air Force’s Boeing C-32 aircraft experienced a mechanical problem approximately ninety minutes after departure, which was reportedly related to the cockpit windshield.
According to flight tracking websites, Rubio’s aircraft made a sudden U-turn over the Atlantic Ocean near the coast of Maine and continued to fly at a height of roughly 10,000 feet until it returned to Joint Base Andrews.
Jim Risch (R-Idaho), the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was also on board the plane.
It’s unclear if the plane change will cause Rubio to miss his crucial Friday morning meeting in Munich with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Vice President JD Vance, where talks on how to end the nearly three-year conflict between Russia and Ukraine are anticipated to take place.
The mechanical problem comes after a string of recent military aircraft crashes.
A Navy EA-18G Growler fell into California’s San Diego Harbor earlier this week, while an Air Force F-35 fighter plane worth $81 million crashed during a training exercise at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska late last month.
Prior to the collisions, the pilots of both aircraft managed to safely eject.
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