A plane carrying first lady Melania Trump was forced to return to a Maryland Air Force base after the cabin filled with smoke just after takeoff.
Melania Trump’s plane returned to Joint Base Andrews in Prince George’s County, Maryland, about 10 minutes after it took off for Philadelphia Wednesday morning, according to Meghan K. Welsh, a Fox News producer who was part of the press pool traveling with the first lady. Despite a burning smell and a haze of smoke, the plane landed safely and those on board were given wet towels to put over their faces.
While White House officials did not yet say what caused smoke to fill the cabin of Melania Trump’s plane, her Communications Director Stephanie Grisham told CNN it was a “minor mechanical. Everyone is fine, and everyone is safe.”
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Welsh tweeted after the incident that “we are safely on the ground at Andrews Air Force Base after a thin haze of smoke and strong burning smell in the cabin of Air Force One this morning shortly after takeoff.” She shared an image of the first lady heading to an awaiting vehicle on the tarmac.
We are safely on the ground at Andrews Air Force Base after thin haze of smoke and strong burning smell in the cabin of Air Force One this morning shortly after takeoff. @FLOTUS is fine. I am told it was a “minor mechanical issue.” pic.twitter.com/vgHCChJoXC
— Meghan K. Welsh (@meghankwelsh) October 17, 2018
The first lady did visit Philadelphia later in the day, where she spoke about treatment for newborns suffering from opioid withdrawal at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and toured its neonatal intensive care nursery. She returned to Washington afterward.
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