A private jet carrying former President Trump and his crew was forced to make an emergency landing in New Orleans after leaving the city shortly after.
The plane reportedly suffered an engine failure over the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday evening. Trump had just spoken at the Republican National Committee’s spring meeting in New Orleans, and around 11 p.m., a plane took off to fly him home to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
The plane flew about 75 miles, reaching an altitude of about 28,000 feet, before being forced to turn around after one of its engines failed, according to the Washington Post and Politico.
The private jet Dassault Falcon 900 also carried members of the secret services, as well as other Trump employees and advisers.
Once Trump was back on the ground, the NRC reportedly found another donor plane for the former president so he could return to Mar-a-Lago. The former president landed in Florida around 3 am.
Hours earlier, Trump had delivered an extensive speech in which he spoke on a number of topics, setting an aggressive tone for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Pictured, Trump leaves Florida last May aboard his private jet. It is not clear if this is the plane that crash-landed last weekend.
Trump’s private jet leaves Florida in May 2021.
“At what point can we not commit this massive crime against humanity?” Trump asked. “We cannot allow this. We cannot allow this to continue.”
He jokingly suggested that the US “bomb the hell out of Russia” with Chinese-flagged planes, spearheading a conflict between the two allies while the US would “sit and watch.”
Trump has also targeted NATO, calling it a “paper tiger” and said the US can’t just stand by while Ukraine is being invaded, according to Washington Post reporter Josh Dawsey, who obtained a tape of Trump’s remarks.
Trump has reportedly said several times during his presidency that he wants to withdraw the United States from NATO, and his aides have struggled to resist the move.
Trump also called some of his opponents by their first names during the speech, calling Rep. Adam Schiff a “watermelon head” and George Conway a “son of a bitch.”
Former Vice President Mike Pence also spoke at the spring meeting following recent disagreements between him and Trump over the 2020 election. It is unclear if the couple spoke.
An inside view of Trump’s other private jet, his Boeing 57, is shown in a video released by the Trump Organization in 2011.
In 2016, Trump posted a photo of himself on Facebook aboard his private Boeing 575 aircraft, known as “Trump Force One”.
Views inside Donald Trump’s private Boeing 57 in a video released by the Trump Organization in 2011.
Trump owns at least three private jets. His $100 million Boeing 757 was recently refurbished.
All the seat belts on this plane are made of 24 carat gold, as are the plumbing in the bathroom and other details, and there is a full entertainment system in the living room.
Most of the onboard space is occupied by the bedroom, guest room and dining room.
While a Boeing of this size could normally seat 200 people, the refurbished aircraft only seats 43 passengers and has a range of 4,100 nautical miles.
The former president also owns a nine-seat Cessna Citation X – one of the fastest private jets – codenamed N725DT, which was frequently used during the campaign.
An airplane is flying at 705 miles per hour, just under the speed of sound. It can fly at 51,000 feet.
The Cessna is not cheap to operate, with a short round-trip flight from Washington to Philadelphia costing around $17,000.
Trump also owns three Sikorsky S-76 helicopters based in New York, Florida and Scotland, which his club members and guests can use as they see fit.