The Coast Guard Gulfstream jet, which had 14 people onboard, landed at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on the afternoon of Wednesday, Sept. 2

NEED TO KNOW

• A Coast Guard plane carrying Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin had to make an emergency landing on the afternoon of Wednesday, Sept. 2 after one of its engines failed
• The aircraft, which had 14 people onboard, ended up landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport
• “No panic, just straight professionalism. After we landed, the pilots told me that was a first for them! We could not have been in better hands,” Mullin wrote on X following the incident

A plane carrying Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin had to make an emergency landing outside Washington this week following an engine failure.

The incident occurred on the afternoon of Wednesday, Sept. 2, with the pilot making a call to air traffic control at around 1:35 p.m. local time, per NBC News.

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Gulfstream jet, which had 14 people on board, landed at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) in Arlington County, Va., the outlet stated. No injuries were reported.

“We just lost our right engine. We’d like to declare an emergency and immediate landing at DCA,” the pilot said in an audio recording communication with air traffic control, NBC News reported.

Mullin — who was sworn in as homeland security secretary, replacing former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, in March — said on X that the plane had landed safely. 

While resharing a post about the incident, he wrote, “The United States Coast Guard pilots made the single-engine landing feel routine.” 

“No panic, just straight professionalism. After we landed, the pilots told me that was a first for them! We could not have been in better hands,” Mullin added.

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During the call to air traffic controllers, the pilot said that the plane had around two and a half hours’ worth of fuel aboard, per The Washington Post.

The pilot’s call cited “a possible mechanical issue” before the emergency landing, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) said in a statement, according to NBC News.

“The plane landed safely, was thoroughly checked by Airports Authority Fire and Rescue personnel, then proceeded off the runway. There was no disruption to other flights,” the MWAA added, per the outlet.

The jet Mullin had been flying on was over 20 years old, The Washington Post reported, citing two former DHS officials.

An emergency landing in a Gulfstream is “extremely rare,” one of the DHS sources told the outlet, insisting that it had never happened before in Washington’s Coast Guard region.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, the Department of Homeland Security, the Coast Guard and the Federal Aviation Administration didn’t immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE for comment.

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