Descends To 10,000 Feet, Diverts To RAF Mildenhall Base

The U.S. Air Force C-32 transporting Secretary of War Pete Hegseth from Europe back to the states declared a general emergency over the Atlantic Ocean west of Ireland after departing from Brussels where he attended a meeting of NATO Defense Ministers.

The air crew immediately performed a rapid descent from 35,000 feet to 10,000 feet, a maneuver that is consistent with an emergency procedure for cabin depressurization. The C-32, a military variant of the Boeing 757, then executed a turn back to RAF Mildenhall (MHZ / EGUN) in the UK where it landed safely and without further incident.

Pentagon sources confirmed Secretary Hegseth was “safe and in communication with the operations center.”

A Pentagon spokesperson said, "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."

There were no reports of injuries among the crew or passengers, and although the Pentagon mentioned a crack in the windshield, other officials have not confirmed the exact nature of the emergency.

Emergency response crews were placed on standby at RAF Mildenhall, one of the primary bases for the Air Force in the UK. The C-32 is from the 89th Airlift Wing out of Joint Base Andrews (KADW) in Camp Springs, Maryland.

FMI:  www.war.gov/