A plane carrying former US president Donald Trump was forced to make an emergency landing on Saturday night after suffering an engine failure over the Gulf of Mexico, according to an unnamed source cited by Reuters.
The Dassault Falcon 900 had flown about 75 miles from a New Orleans airport before turning back to the city. The aircraft was transporting Trump to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, following a private event where he addressed Republican party donors.
Other passengers included Secret Service agents, support staff, and some advisers. The plane turned around just before 11pm. Politico reported that audio of communications between the pilot and air traffic control described the landing as “emergency in nature”.
The plane belonged to a donor who loaned it to Trump for the evening. Advisers secured another donor’s plane to complete the journey, and Trump landed in Palm Beach around 3am on Sunday.
At the New Orleans event, Trump delivered an 84-minute speech in which he suggested putting Chinese flags on F-22 jets and bombing Russia, as well as teasing a 2024 presidential run. He is expected to fly again on Saturday for a rally in Florence, South Carolina.
