United States Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth addresses a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025. (Omar Havana/AP)
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made an unexpected landing due to a cracked aircraft windshield while traveling back from NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels, the Pentagon said Wednesday.
“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,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a post on X. “The plane landed based on standard procedures and everyone onboard, including Secretary Hegseth, is safe.”
On his personal X account, Hegseth said, “All good. Thank God. Continue mission!”
About 30 minutes after Hegseth left Brussels, open source flight trackers spotted his Air Force C-32 losing altitude and beginning to broadcast an emergency signal.
The C-32 is a specially configured version of the Boeing 757-200 commercial intercontinental airliner; the body is identical, but it has different interior furnishings and 21st century avionics, according to the Air Force. It is used to transport U.S. leaders, including the vice president, first lady and members of the Cabinet and Congress.
Hegseth called on NATO countries Wednesday to step up support for Ukraine, saying the more American-made weaponry that can be directed at Russian forces, the better the odds of ending a war that has raged for over three years.
“Our expectation today is that more countries donate even more, that they purchase even more, to provide for Ukraine, to bring that conflict to a peaceful conclusion,” Hegseth said at the start of high-level talks.
The meeting at the bloc’s headquarters also marks the first gathering of allied defense leaders since a series of Russian drone and fighter plane intrusions on NATO territory last month.
Hegseth’s comments regarding support for Ukraine come as President Donald Trump grows increasingly frustrated with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. On Sunday, Trump floated the possibility of sending long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine.
Contributing: The Associated Press
