Marine One suffered what officials said was a minor hydraulic issue Thursday while carrying U.S. President Donald Trump in the UK. The president’s flight diverted to Luton Airport, where he and the first lady safely transferred to a support helicopter.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said to reporters that the aircraft landed “out of an abundance of caution” before flights continued on to Stansted Airport about 20 minutes behind schedule. Photographs from Luton showed two of the U.S. presidential helicopters positioned just off the runway as emergency crews stood by.
Marine One is the call sign for U.S. Marine Corps aircraft whenever they are carrying the president, often a VH-3D helicopter, though there are other aircraft in the fleet as well. Marine One often flies in formation with identical decoy aircraft and is frequently accompanied by MV-22 Ospreys carrying support personnel and Secret Service agents.
The incident occurred during Trump’s second state visit to the United Kingdom, during which he traveled extensively by helicopter between Windsor, Chequers and Stansted. Despite the interruption, the transfer proceeded without further delays, and the president continued his following itinerary as planned, according to reports from the BBC and Fox News.
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