Secretary of State Antony Blinken bussed four hours to make a meeting with European leaders after his government plane experienced “mechanical issues.”
Blinken often uses a federally funded Boeing 737 plane, which is owned by the U.S. Air Force, to travel internationally and attend meetings with dignitaries and world leaders. His plane recently had mechanical problems at Davos and suffered more issues during the secretary’s trip to Europe.
The issues forced Blinken and his entourage to bus roughly four hours from Paris to Brussels to meet with European leaders at NATO’s headquarters, according to the Daily Mail. Blinken arrived at NATO headquarters about two hours behind schedule for an event at which NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg marked 75 years of the NATO alliance.
In January, the secretary of State was briefly stranded in Davos after his plane suffered a “critical failure” of its oxygen system. A leak in the system grounded the plane, forcing Blinken to take a helicopter from Davos to Zurich. Journalists and aides traveling with the secretary had to find commercial options to return to the U.S.
Blinken’s problems are the latest in a series of issues with Boeing planes that have drawn scrutiny to the aircraft manufacturer and its suppliers. Last month, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced an investigation into a Boeing supplier’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies over concern that the company’s ideological commitment to diversity has impacted the quality and safety of its product.
“The potential risks associated with certain airplane models are deeply concerning and potentially life-threatening to Texans,” Paxton said in a statement announcing an investigation into Spirit AeroSystems Holdings. “I will hold any company responsible if they fail to maintain the standards required by the law and will do everything in my power to ensure manufacturers take passenger safety seriously.”
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“Apparent manufacturing defects have led to numerous concerning or dangerous incidents, some of which occurred in-air,” the state attorney general said.