Air Force Two with Mike Pence on Board Forced to Land Minutes After Take Off After Possible Bird Strike
Charles Krupa/AP/Shutterstock. Inset: getty images Mike Pence and Air Force Two
Air Force Two was forced to land after taking off Tuesday evening after the aircraft hit what is believed to be a bird.
As Air Force Two was taking off from Manchester-Boston Regional Airport in New Hampshire, it hit a bird, the Associated Press reported Tuesday. The pilot reportedly turned the plane around out of caution.
Mike Pence was on board at the time of the landing, but a senior administration official told the AP that the vice president was in no danger.
Pence, 61, was on the return flight to Washington, D.C., after speaking at a campaign event in Gilford, New Hampshire, earlier in the day.
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At the rally, Pence addressed the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died on Friday at age 87, and the administration's plans to appoint a replacement in the coming days.
Pence said that a conservative woman would be appointed on Saturday to take Ginsburg's place on the Supreme Court, echoing previous comments by Donald Trump that the nominee would be named this week.
"This Saturday, President @realDonaldTrump will nominate a principled Conservative woman to the Supreme Court and after the Senate fulfills their duty to advise and consent, we’re gonna fill that seat and have one more Conservative on the highest court in the land!" Pence wrote on Twitter earlier Tuesday.
CJ GUNTHER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Mike Pence
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The Republicans' push to fill Ginsburg's seat on the Supreme Court has been criticized as hypocritical, given the GOP's blocking of Judge Merrick Garland, President Barack Obama's nominee, after the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's death in 2016.
Once a nominee is named, the Senate will hold congressional hearings where lawmakers from both sides of the aisle can interview them. Then, the Senate will vote to confirm or reject the judge.
Republicans hold a 53-47 seat majority and have a tie-breaking vote in Vice President Mike Pence, if it comes down to that.
