WASHINGTON -A plane carrying former U.S. President Donald Trump made an emergency landing in New Orleans on Saturday evening after experiencing an engine failure over the Gulf of Mexico, a source familiar with the matter confirmed on Wednesday.
The plane, a Dassault Falcon 900, had gone about 75 miles (120 km) from a New Orleans airport before turning back to the city, the person said. Other passengers included Secret Service agents, support staff and some of Trump’s advisers.
A Trump representative did not immediately return a request for comment on the incident.
The Federal Aviation Administration referred questions to the U.S. Secret Service, which said “as a matter of practice the Secret Service does not discuss our protectees.”
The plane was returning Trump to his home in Palm Beach, Florida, from a New Orleans hotel where he was speaking to Republican Party donors at a private event, the person said.
The plane belonged to a donor who loaned it to the former president for the evening, the source said, and Trump advisers secured another donor’s plane to take him back to Florida.
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The incident was first reported on Wednesday by Politico and the Washington Post.
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; additional reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)