JD Vance’s plane makes emergency landing after door malfunction

Republican vice presidential nominee, US Senator JD Vance, speaks at a campaign rally. Photo / Getty Images

The charter plane carrying former president Donald Trump’s running mate Senator JD Vance (R-Ohio) made an emergency landing in Milwaukee after a door seal malfunction, the campaign said.

The plane, a Boeing 737, declared an emergency shortly after it had left the airport in Milwaukee and returned for repairs, campaign spokesperson Taylor Van Kirk said in a statement. The issue was resolved, and the plane continued to Cincinnati, where Vance lives. Vance was in Milwaukee for a campaign event at the city’s police association.

A National Transportation Safety Board spokesperson said the agency is not investigating the plane’s grounding as it does not qualify as an accident, defined as “events that result in serious injury or death or substantial damage”.

The emergency landing comes a week after Trump’s plane was diverted as he headed to Montana for a rally last Friday.

Boeing has faced greater scrutiny for its assembly process of the 737 Max – the updated version of the older 737 model used by Vance – after an Alaska Airlines flight in January experienced a midair blowout leaving a hole in the fuselage.

However, Jeff Guzzetti, a former accident investigator with the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board, cautioned that it is “purely coincidental that this happened on a Boeing – it could have happened on an Airbus”.

Judging by how fast the issue was resolved and how quickly the aircraft was able to continue to Cincinnati, Guzzetti said the issue appeared to be minor.

Vance was travelling with his wife, his dog, campaign staff members and a travelling pool of reporters.