Secretary of State's plane had to turn back from Germany due to 'mechanical issue'

In what the State Department is calling a "mechanical issue," Secretary of State Marco Rubio's plane had to turn around on Thursday night just short of reaching Munich, as Fox News reported.

According to a statement by State Department spokesman Tammy Bruce, the shattered windshield was the cause of the incident, and Rubio "intends to continue his travel to Germany and the Middle East on a separate air craft."

At approximately 10 p.m. ET, Rubio's plane returned to Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, from its journey to Munich for the Munich Security Conference this past weekend.

The conference serves as a platform for discussions on foreign security policy and is expected to be attended by Vice President JD Vance as well as a bipartisan group of 18 senators led by Senators Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).

The Conference

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine was a central topic at both last year's conference and this weekend's summit.

President Trump convened several high-level meetings in Europe and dispatched Vance, Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg.

Separately, on Thursday, a car crashed into a crowd in Munich, injuring dozens of them. The German government has called the event a "suspected attack."

While nothing has been confirmed as of yet, precautions have been taken.

Other Crashes

This comes after several weeks of plane-related tragedies, beginning at the end of last month when a passenger plane collided with a military helicopter.

An American Airlines commuter from Wichita, Kansas, was near Ronald Reagan Airport in Washington, D.C., when the crash took place, killing 67 individuals.

The plane carried 60 passengers on its daily flight from Kansas. There were also four crew members on board, and the Black Hawk military helicopter carried three service members.

While the National Transportation Safety Administration has yet to release their preliminary report, initial indications have led officials to believe that the helicopter was outside of its prescribed flying parameters at the time of the crash.