Air Force One made an unexpected return to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Tuesday about one hour after taking off for a meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
President Donald Trump was on board the aircraft and was scheduled to speak at Davos at around 2:30 p.m. local time on Wednesday.
The White House said the airplane experienced a “minor electrical issue,” and the crew opted to turn back out of an abundance of caution.
Several senior officials were accompanying Trump on the flight, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, according to The New York Times.
The Associated Press reported that a journalist on board the flight saw the cabin lights go out briefly after departure. About a half an hour later, the press corps was told that the airplane was turning around.
According to AP, Trump boarded another aircraft, a Boeing C-32—a modified 757 sometimes used by the president, the first lady, and high-ranking cabinet officials—and continued on with his trip to Davos. That flight took off shortly after midnight.
Two Boeing VC-25s—a military variant of the 747— serve as Air Force One. The aircraft have been in service for nearly 40 years, and Boeing is in the process of replacing them with two new airplanes based on the 747-8I.
Trump has frequently complained about the age of Air Force One and Boeing’s timeline for delivering the replacements. These frustrations prompted him to accept a 747-8 gifted to the U.S. by Qatar in 2025, despite ethics concerns raised by members of Congress.
