DHS purchased two new Gulfstream 700 jets last year
A Coast Guard Gulfstream C-37A carrying Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin made an emergency landing at Washington’s Reagan National Airport on Wednesday afternoon after the aircraft’s right engine failed and caught fire, a Coast Guard spokesman said.
The jet had 14 people aboard, including Mullin and several other senior DHS officials. The spokesman said all those on board were unharmed.
In a post on X, Mullin credited the Coast Guard pilots with handling the emergency without alarm. “The United States Coast Guard pilots made the single engine landing feel routine,” he wrote. “No panic, just straight professionalism. After we landed, the pilots told me that was a first for them!”
The emergency was declared by radio as the pilots guided the aircraft toward Reagan National. “We just lost our right engine and would like to declare an emergency,” a Coast Guard pilot told controllers on the ground, according to audio of the incident.
The specific Gulfstream C-37A involved in Wednesday’s emergency has been used by the Coast Guard to shuttle high-level officials since 2002, according to the agency’s website. The C-37A is the military designation for a modified version of Gulfstream’s commercial business jets. Other civilian and military agencies also operate variants of the aircraft.
Last year, Mullin’s predecessor as DHS secretary, Kristi Noem, purchased two new Gulfstream 700 jets for the secretary’s use after the department said the planes previously used to ferry the secretary around the country were “dangerously outdated.”
It was not immediately clear why Mullin was not flying on one of the new Gulfstream 700s on Wednesday.