Coast Guard plane carrying DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin makes emergency landing due to engine failure

<p>A plane carrying Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin made an emergency landing on September 2, 2026, after the aircraft suffered an engine failure. </p><p>Mullin was traveling from Georgia to Washington, D.C., when the U.S. Coast Guard C101, a C-37A Gulfstream V jet, was diverted to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Virginia. </p><p>The pilot communicated to the airport's control tower, "We just lost our right engine and would like to declare an emergency and immediate landing at DCA," according to an audio recording. </p><p>The pilot informed controllers that the plane had 14 people on board and 2.5 hours' worth of fuel. </p><p>Mullin later commented on social media, stating, "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." </p><p>The aircraft is one of the Coast Guard planes that DHS flagged last year due to its age. DHS oversees the Coast Guard. </p><p>In 2025, the agency indicated that the C101 was more than "20 years old, outside of Gulfstream’s service life, and well beyond operational usage hours for a corporate aircraft." </p><p>Concerns about aging aircraft have been raised previously by DHS. In May 2025, Democratic Representatives Bennie Thompson of Mississippi and LaMonica McIver of New Jersey questioned DHS regarding the prioritization of upgrading executive aircraft over modernizing aging Coast Guard search-and-rescue planes. </p><p>Fox News Digital has reached out to DHS and the Coast Guard for further comment.</p>