Washington, September 3 (TNA) A U.S. Coast Guard jet carrying Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and other senior DHS officials made an emergency landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Wednesday afternoon after losing its right engine mid-flight, officials and audio of air traffic control communications confirmed.
All 14 people on board, including the secretary, landed safely, and no injuries were reported, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority and multiple news outlets said. The aircraft, a Gulfstream C‑37A operated by the Coast Guard, was en route from Lawson Army Airfield near Columbus, Georgia, to the Washington area when the problem occurred. In a recording of radio traffic, the pilot told Potomac air traffic control: “We just lost our right engine and would like to declare an emergency and immediate landing at DCA.”
The pilot also informed controllers that the jet had about two and a half hours of fuel remaining and requested priority handling. Air traffic control cleared the flight to land on Runway 1 at Reagan National, and the aircraft touched down safely at around 1:35 p.m. EDT, airport authorities said.
After the incident, Secretary Mullin praised the crew’s professionalism. “The United States Coast Guard pilots made the single‑engine landing feel routine,” Mullin said in a statement. “No panic, just straight professionalism.”
Airport fire and rescue teams inspected the aircraft on the runway before it taxied off, but there were no disruptions to other flights, the airport authority said. Reports described the jet as about 25 years old, though officials did not immediately attribute the failure to age. The cause of the engine failure and whether there was any fire, as some outlets reported, are expected to be examined as part of a standard investigation by the Coast Guard and federal aviation authorities.