(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
A US Air Force aircraft carrying the US Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, was forced to make an unexpected detour to the UK due to a mid-air emergency.
Roughly 30 minutes into its journey from Brussels to Washington, the Boeing C-32A began transmitting a “7700 squawk code” on its transponder, a signal used to indicate a general emergency onboard. According to aviation news network Airlive, the plane experienced a “depressurisation issue”, necessitating a descent to 10,000 feet whilst over the Atlantic.
Hegseth had been in the Belgian capital for discussions at NATO headquarters, where he announced that “firepower” was heading to Ukraine via the allies’ acquisition of US weaponry, reports the Mirror.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell later confirmed on X that a fracture in the aircraft’s windscreen led to the emergency landing.
(Image: Air Nav Radar)
He stated: “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. The plane landed based on standard procedures and everyone onboard, including Secretary Hegseth, is safe.”
Hegseth responded to Parnell’s tweet, adding: “All good. Thank God. Continue mission!” The aircraft was redirected to RAF Mildenhall, a US Air Force base in Suffolk.
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Ukraine is pressing for American-made Tomahawk missiles, with former US President Donald Trump hinting on Sunday that he might need to provide them to increase pressure on Russia to cease the conflict. Hegseth didn’t specifically refer to Tomahawks, but stated: “Firepower, that’s what is coming,” and added that funding “commitments” made by European nations would soon transform into “capabilities” for Ukraine.
These weapons acquisitions fall under the new Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL), which has already seen $2 billion pledged for military equipment for Ukraine. More funding is anticipated from NATO countries.
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