Coast Guard plane carrying Markwayne Mullin lands safely after engine failure

A U.S. Coast Guard aircraft carrying Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin made an emergency landing in Virginia on Wednesday after losing an engine in flight.

The aircraft lost its right engine while airborne and diverted to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport for an immediate landing.

The pilot reported 14 people aboard and about 2.5 hours of fuel remaining as controllers coordinated the emergency landing.

“We just lost our right engine, would like to declare an emergency and immediate landing at DCA,” the pilot said, according to audio published on ATC.com.

Mullin praised the Coast Guard pilots for their handling of the emergency, saying their response made the landing appear seamless.

“The United States Coast Guard pilots made the single engine landing feel routine. No panic, just straight professionalism,” Mullin wrote on X. He added that after landing, the pilots told him it was the first time they had experienced such a situation. “We could not have been in better hands,” he said.

It was not immediately clear what caused the engine failure or where the aircraft had been traveling when the problem occurred. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

The Coast Guard operates long-range command-and-control aircraft that provide official transportation for senior Homeland Security and Coast Guard officials. The service began replacing some of those aircraft last year, saying older planes had experienced several unplanned maintenance problems.

The emergency landing comes amid heightened attention to aviation safety around Reagan National, one of the nation’s busiest and most tightly controlled airports. A midair collision in January 2025 near the airport over the Potomac River involving an American Airlines passenger jet and an Army helicopter killed 67 people and prompted new safety procedures for military aircraft operating in the area.

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