Air Force Plane Carrying Rubio Returns to Washington

An Air Force jet carrying US officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, aborted its journey to the Munich Security Conference due to a mechanical fault Thursday night. The incident forced a return to Washington just 90 minutes after departing from Joint Base Andrews.

An issue with the cockpit windshield of the C-32, a converted Boeing 757, led to the diversion. State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said: "This evening, en route from Washington to Munich, the plane on which Secretary Rubio is flying experienced a mechanical issue." She added: "The plane has turned around and is returning to Joint Base Andrews." Rubio intends to continue his journey on a different aircraft to Germany and the Middle East. (This story was generated by Newser's AI chatbot. Source: the AP)