Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin is thanking a team of U.S. Coast Guard pilots after they calmly guided his aircraft to safety following a frightening midair engine failure.
Mullin was traveling from Georgia to Washington, D.C., on Wednesday when the right engine of his Coast Guard-operated C-37A jet suddenly failed, forcing the crew to declare an emergency and request an immediate landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
“We just lost our right engine and would like to declare an emergency and immediate landing at DCA,” the pilot told air traffic controllers, according to audio cited by CBS News.
There were 14 people aboard the aircraft, including Mullin and other senior Department of Homeland Security officials. The pilot reported that the plane still had approximately two and a half hours of fuel.
Despite the potentially dangerous situation, the Coast Guard crew brought the jet down safely—and apparently made the entire ordeal look far easier than it was.
“The United States Coast Guard pilots made the single-engine landing feel routine,” Mullin wrote on X. “No panic, just straight professionalism.”
Then came a stunning admission from the crew.
“After we landed, the pilots told me that was a first for them!” Mullin revealed. “We could not have been in better hands.”
The aircraft landed safely, was inspected by Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority fire and rescue personnel and then moved off the runway. No injuries or significant disruptions to other flights were reported.
But the close call is already reviving questions about the age of the aircraft used to transport America’s top homeland security officials.
The C-37A is a military version of the Gulfstream V and is routinely used to carry senior Coast Guard and DHS leaders. Fox 5 DC, citing Fox News, reported that the aircraft had been flagged in 2025 because of its age.
DHS previously said the Coast Guard’s executive jet was 22 years old and suffered from “significant avionics and communications obsolescence issues.” The department argued that replacing it was a matter of safety, noting that the aircraft had exceeded the normal operational life of a corporate jet.
The aging aircraft is part of a broader challenge confronting the Coast Guard. A Government Accountability Office review found that several Coast Guard aircraft were approaching the end of their original service lives and that maintenance problems had contributed to the fleet repeatedly missing its availability target.
