Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s plane to Munich turned around Thursday night after it “experienced a mechanical issue,” according to the State Department.
State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement that the problem was a cracked windshield and that Rubio “intends to continue his travel to Germany and the Middle East on a separate air craft.”
Rubio’s plane, which was headed to Munich for the Munich Security Conference this weekend, landed back at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, at around 10 p.m. ET.
Vice President JD Vance and a bipartisan delegation of 18 lawmakers led by Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., are also scheduled to attend the conference, which is a forum for international security policy.
The war between Russia and Ukraine dominated last year’s conference, and it’s expected to be a central topic at this weekend’s summit, as well.
President Donald Trump sent Vance, Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and special Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg to Europe for a series of high-level meetings.
In a separate incident, dozens of people were injured Thursday after a vehicle plowed into a crowd in Munich. German authorities have referred to the incident as a “suspected attack.”
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