Plane carrying Mullin makes emergency landing after engine failure

A Coast Guard jet carrying Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and other senior officials made an emergency landing outside Washington on Wednesday after one of its engines failed.

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We just lost our right engine and would like to declare an emergency and immediate landing at DCA.

The pilot of the C-37A reported the failure to air traffic controllers at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. “We just lost our right engine and would like to declare an emergency and immediate landing at DCA,” the pilot said, according to recorded radio communication. The pilot reported 14 people aboard and about 2.5 hours of fuel.

Mullin later confirmed the landing in a post on X. “The United States Coast Guard pilots made the single engine landing feel routine. No panic, just straight professionalism,” he wrote. He added that the pilots told him the landing was a first for them and said the passengers could not have been in better hands.

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The United States Coast Guard pilots made the single engine landing feel routine. No panic, just straight professionalism.

The C-37A, a military version of the Gulfstream V, routinely carries senior Coast Guard and Department of Homeland Security officials. DHS has previously described the aircraft as 22 years old and facing serious obsolescence in its avionics and communications systems.

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After we landed, the pilots told me that was a first for them! We could not have been in better hands.

The department requested about $50 million in its fiscal 2025 spending plan to replace the executive jet. Lawmakers questioned the proposal, including whether replacing the aircraft should take priority over updating older Coast Guard planes used for search-and-rescue missions. By October 2025, the Coast Guard had changed the request to two Gulfstream G700s costing about $200 million, drawing further scrutiny from Congress.

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22 years old and faces significant avionics and communications obsolescence issues.