A C-32A carrying War Secretary Pete Hegseth was forced to make a rapid descent over the Atlantic and an “unplanned landing” on Wednesday.
“On the way back to the United States from NATO’s Defense Ministers meeting, Secretary of War Hegseth’s plane made an unscheduled landing in the United Kingdom due to a crack in the aircraft windshield,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell explained on X. “The plane landed based on standard procedures and everyone onboard, including Secretary Hegseth, is safe.”
Open source trackers state the C-32A was forced to descend to under 10,000 feet while flying off the coast of Ireland, over the Atlantic Ocean. After a steep emergency descent, which is standard procedure for a broken windscreen, the modified 757-200 ended up diverting to RAF Mildenhall in the U.K. We’ve reached out to the Pentagon for more details.
As we have reported in the past, the C-32A is the real workhorse of the executive airlift fleet. Known as “Air Force 2” when it carries the vice president, these aircraft also transport other senior U.S. officials, such as Hegseth or the Secretary of State, along with Congressional delegations and the President’s spouse – and often the President themselves.
It should be noted that these jets have been flying for many years and are deeply into the back-half of their service lives. They continue to receive upgrades as a replacement program is now in the initial launch phases.
Hegseth was in Brussels meeting with NATO allies for the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting. It is unclear when Hegseth will resume his trip.
Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com