Coast Guard plane with DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin on board makes emergency landing after engine failure

A plane carrying Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin made an emergency landing Wednesday after the aircraft suffered an engine failure. 

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. 

"We just lost our right engine and would like to declare an emergency and immediate landing at DCA," the pilot told the airport's control tower, according to an audio recording. 

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Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) New York field office, Tuesday, in New York City.  (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

The pilot told controllers the plane had 14 people on board and 2.5 hours' worth of fuel.

"The United States Coast Guard pilots made the single-engine landing feel routine," Mullin wrote on X about the ordeal. "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."

The aircraft is one of the Coast Guard planes that DHS flagged last year because of its age. DHS oversees the Coast Guard. 

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At the time, then DHS Secretary Kristi Noem faced backlash and congressional scrutiny for purchasing two luxury Gulfstream G700 private jets for the Coast Guard costing between $172 million and $200 million, far exceeding her initial $50 million request.

DHS has previously voiced concerns about aging aircraft. In 2025, the agency said the C101 was more than "20 years old, outside of Gulfstream’s service life, and well beyond operational usage hours for a corporate aircraft."

"Much like the US Coast Guard’s ships that are well beyond their service life and safe operational usage, Coast Guard’s aircraft are, too. The Trump Administration is taking action to restore our Nation’s finest maritime Armed Service to a capable fighting force," said then-DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.

Former DHS Sec. Kristi Noem meets with U.S. Coast Guard servicemembers in Ecuador. (Pool/Getty Images, FIle)

In May 2025, Democratic Reps. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi and LaMonica McIver of New Jersey pressed DHS on why upgrading executive aircraft was prioritized over modernizing aging Coast Guard search-and-rescue planes.

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"We know President Trump has set a high bar for wasteful luxury travel by government officials with his unconstitutional attempt to personally acquire a $400 million jet from a foreign government," the pair wrote in a letter to Noem. "That does not mean members of his Cabinet must follow suit. Your desire to travel in luxury should not eclipse the need for USCG service members to fly safely and conduct lifesaving missions."

Fox News Digital has reached out to DHS and the Coast Guard.