Melania Trump’s Air Force plane forced to turn around after SMOKE filled the cabin and reporters used wet towels to cover their faces so they could breathe
First lady’s spokeswoman says a ‘minor mechanical issue’ was to blame
Plane turned around 10 minutes into a short flight from to Philadelphia
Aircraft typically used as ‘Air Force Two’ landed back at Joint Base Andrews
After she boarded a waiting backup aircraft, the president joked: ‘I hope this plane’s better than the first one’
Secret Service agents leapt to their feet and ran toward the cockpit
Reporters on the plane said they were given wet towels to cover their faces so they could breathe
By DAVID MARTOSKO
DAILYMAIL.COM
17 October 2018
A government plane carrying Melania Trump was forced to turn around Wednesday and return to an air base in Maryland after smoke filled the cabin.
Secret Service agents leapt from their seats 10 minutes into a morning flight and ran to the front of the aircraft.
‘They’re fine. I just spoke to her,’ President Donald Trump said a few hours later on the Fox Business Network. ‘They came back, she got on another plane.’
‘I said, “I hope this plane’s better than the first one”,’ he quipped. ‘But yeah, they had a problem. Yeah, but she’s fine.’
The first lady’s spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said shortly after the brief crisis was declared ovet that a ‘minor mechanical issue’ was to blame. No smoke was visible from the outside of the plane after it touched down.
Journalists on board said no one was hurt.
The first lady calmly walked off the plane and got into a waiting SUV.A pool reporter said a second plane was made ready for takeoff within 50 minutes, and the first lady was on her way again.
She was headed to Philadelphia to address a hospital conference on neonatal abstinence syndrome, a condition that strikes infants who experience withdrawal from their mothers’ use of narcotics while pregnant.
A press pool reporter on board said journalists ‘could see a thin haze of smoke and smell something burning. The smell quickly became stronger.’
A crew member told the reporter that a ‘malfunctioning comms unit’ was to blame. The White House has not confirmed any details.
Melania’s flight returned to Joint Base Andrews and landed safely at 9:05 a.m.
The Rest…HERE
