A plane carrying Secretary of State Marcio Rubio bound for Munich, Germany, was forced to return to Maryland late Thursday night due to a “mechanical issue,” officials said.
State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement the plane was returning to Joint Base Andrews outside Washington, D.C.
“The Secretary intends to continue his travel to Germany and the Middle East on a separate aircraft,” said Bruce, who is also aboard the flight. The plane landed safely shortly before 10 p.m. ET.
No further details were provided. However, an official told The Associated Press that there was an issue related to the cockpit windshield of the C-32, a converted Boeing 757, which occurred about 90 minutes after takeoff.
Also traveling with Rubio is Republican Sen. James Risch of Idaho.
Rubio is set to attend the Munich Security Conference, which begins Friday, along with Vice President JD Vance, who traveled separately.
At the conference, Rubio was expected to join Vance for a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, which comes in the wake of remarks by both President Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth about working with Russia to negotiate an end to the war.
