An aircraft carrying Vice President Mike Pence, known as Air Force Two, was forced to turn back and land after it reportedly collided with a bird over New Hampshire shortly after take-off.
The plane struck a bird soon after taking off from New Hampshire’s Manchester Airport on Tuesday following a Trump campaign event, a White House official told NPR’s Tamara Keith, adding that “out of abundance of caution, Air Force 2 returned safely back to Manchester.”
A White House official confirms to me that “upon takeoff, Air Force Two struck a bird. Out of abundance of caution, Air Force 2 returned safely back to Manchester.”
#BREAKING Air Force 2 carrying @VP Mike Pence back to Washington from today’s events in NH strikes what is to believed to be a bird shortly after takeoff from MHT. The aircraft has since returned and landed safely. pic.twitter.com/6DPWog1qzw
An aide to the vice president said Pence and his staff would travel back to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on a separate plane typically used for White House cargo, according to pool reporter Daniella Diaz. There were no reports of injuries or damage to the plane in the collision.
Pence spoke at a campaign rally for US President Donald Trump in Gilford, New Hampshire before the brief mid-air scare, where he addressed the president’s upcoming nominee to replace Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and urged the crowd to give the Trump administration four more years in office, among other subjects.
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