Donald Trump’s plane had to make an emergency landing in New Orleans not long after taking off from the Louisiana city after the aircraft suffered an engine failure over the Gulf of Mexico.
The pilot immediately turned the plane around and landed just before 11pm on Saturday, Politico first reported.
The plane was set to take Mr Trump home to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida after his visit to the Four Seasons Hotel in New Orleans, where he spoke at a private event for top GOP donors, hosted by the Republican National Committee.
The plane had travelled around 75 miles from New Orleans Lakefront Airport, reaching 28,000 feet (8,534 metres) before being forced to return to the airport, tracking data from ADSBexchange.com shows.
The plane, a Dassault Falcon 900, was also transporting Secret Service agents, support staff, as well as some of Mr Trump’s advisors. One of the four engines failed, according to Politico.
The plane started in Texas, flying to Palm Beach and then on to New Orleans, tracking data revealed.
The flight map shows that the aircraft was over the water when it turned around, flying back to the city and Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.
“There will be vehicles following you down the runway,” an air traffic controller told the pilot as the plane came in for landing.
“I appreciate it,” the pilot replied, according to LiveATC.net recordings.
The plane was loaned to Mr Trump by a donor, The Post reported. The tail number of the plane is connected to a company based in Utah that is the trustee for more than 1,400 aircraft.
Trump and RNC staff managed to get access to the plane of another donor, which was brought to the airport and Mr Trump was able to get back home to Florida at around 3am on Sunday, according to Politico.
Mr Trump spoke before donors for around 90 minutes on Saturday, quipping that the US should “bomb the shit out of Russia” with planes displaying Chinese flags. He called California Democratic Representative Adam Schiff a “watermelon head”, and said that lawyer George Conway, a fierce critic of Mr Trump, is a “son of a b**ch”.
He added that he was “looking … very, very strongly” at running for the White House again in 2024.
