Vance’s Plane Makes Emergency Landing in Milwaukee

Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) talks to reporters at Chippewa Valley Regional Airport in Eau Claire, Wis., on Aug. 7, 2024. Alex Brandon/AP Photo

A charter plane carrying Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) had to make an emergency landing at a Wisconsin airport on Aug. 16 because of a door-seal malfunction, according to a spokesperson for the Vance campaign.

The pilot of the Boeing 737-86J jet, known as “Trump Force Two,” reported a mechanical issue and made an emergency landing in Milwaukee, according to Vance spokeswoman Taylor Van Kirk.

“The pilot advised there was a malfunction with the door seal,” Van Kirk told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement. “After declaring an emergency, Trump Force Two returned to Milwaukee. As soon as the issue was resolved, the plane returned to its originally planned flight path back to Cincinnati.”

Photojournalist Asher Heimermann, who witnessed the landing, wrote in a series of posts on social media platform X that the Milwaukee County Fire Department was deployed to the scene and conducted an inspection of the plane before it resumed its flight to its intended destination.

Scanner traffic indicated that there were 43 people on board.

The incident occurred exactly a week after Trump’s Boeing 757, dubbed “Trump Force One,” was diverted to Billings-Logan International Airport during the former president’s trip to a rally in Bozeman, Montana, for unspecified technical reasons.

An airport official confirmed to The Epoch Times that a mechanical issue forced the Aug. 9 diversion and that the plane landed “without incident.”

Trump traveled to Montana for a rally in Bozeman on Aug. 9, where he sought to rally support for Republican candidate Tim Sheehy, who is seeking to unseat Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.).

Vance was in Wisconsin on Aug. 16 to give a speech at the Milwaukee Police Association’s headquarters, focusing on crime and law enforcement.

Vance emphasized the need for supportive law enforcement policies and criticized the current leadership’s policies, in particular regarding border security, while advocating for stronger border control measures.

“The border policies that we have at the southern border, they make our communities less safe even as far north as Wisconsin,” Vance said. “It means Mexican drug cartels operating in our communities. It means people dying of fentanyl.”

Fentanyl deaths regularly make up about 70 percent of all drug overdose deaths in the United States. According to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 75,000 Americans died from overdosing on synthetic opioids, mostly fentanyl, in 2023.