A video shows First Lady Melania Trump departing a plane after it made an emergency landing in Maryland due to a mechanical issue.
A video shows First Lady Melania Trump departing a plane after it made an emergency landing in Maryland due to a mechanical issue.
Trump’s spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, told CBS News that there was a “minor mechanical issue,” adding that “everything is fine and everyone is safe.”
She was heading to Philadelphia to meet with families of children affected by opioids. Reports say that her plane has since landed in Philadelphia.
President Trump said he had spoken with his wife after the emergency landing.
“She got on another plane. I said: ‘I hope this plane is better than the first one,’” he told Fox News. “But, yeah, they had a problem.”
Reporters on board the plane were given wet towels, and they were told “told to hold them over their faces if the smell became too strong,” an NBC journalist tweeted. Citing a spokesperson, he added that the first lady is “fine” after the mechanical issue.
CBS reported that the incident on the plane started around 10 minutes after takeoff after U. S. Secret Service officers were spotted heading toward the front of the plane. Then, a haze of smoke was visible and there was a smell of persistent burning in the plane cabin.
The smoke cleared and the burning smell went away within minutes. Her plane landed at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland at 9:05 a.m. ET.
Other details about the incident were not provided.
While in Philadelphia, she visited Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and had a meeting with families dealing with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), USA Today reported.
“Good morning. I am sorry for the delay,” she reportedly said in the meeting. “It is good to be with all of you.”
Trump added: “There are few things harder to bear than seeing a newborn suffer, and I’m anxious to do all that I can to help shine a light on this epidemic.”
The first lady recently remarked in an interview with ABC News that she could be the “most bullied” person in the world. “You’re really the most bullied person in the world?” ABC News’ Tom Llamas asked her.
“One of them, if you really see what people saying about me,” Trump responded.
“We need to educate the children of social-emotional behavior, so when they grow up, they know how to deal with those issues,” Trump said. “That’s very important.”
She also advised her husband about people who she thinks he can trust.
“I give him my honest advice and honest opinions, and then he does what he wants to do,” Trump said, adding that “well, some people, they don’t work there anymore.”
“It’s harder to govern,” the first lady said of untrustworthy people. “You always need to watch your back.”
