Air Force One Returns to Washington After Minor Electrical Problem

President Donald Trump’s Air Force One was forced to return to the Washington area shortly after takeoff on Tuesday evening after crew members detected a minor electrical issue, the White House said.

The presidential aircraft — a Boeing VC-25 — departed Joint Base Andrews en route to Davos, Switzerland, where Trump is scheduled to attend the World Economic Forum. However, roughly an hour into the flight, the crew identified a small electrical problem and, “out of an abundance of caution,” made the decision to turn around and land back at Joint Base Andrews near Washington.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the issue was minor and precautionary, and there were no injuries or safety concerns reported. A brief outage of lights in the press cabin was noted by reporters on board, but officials did not provide further technical details.

After landing safely, Trump transferred to a smaller Air Force C-32 — a Boeing 757 model typically used for domestic travel — and continued his journey to Switzerland shortly after midnight.

The current Air Force One jets have been in service for nearly four decades, and their planned replacements have faced several delays in production. These aircraft are equipped with advanced communications and safety systems to allow the president to remain connected and operational anywhere in the world.

Leavitt quipped to reporters that a newer Boeing 747-8 gifted by Qatar’s royal family and being retrofitted for presidential use “sounded much better” amid the incident.

The episode follows other recent minor technical issues involving aircraft used by senior U.S. officials, though incidents involving Air Force One itself are rare.