A Boeing C-40B Clipper, an aircraft based on the Boeing 737-700 Boeing Business Jet (BBJ), carrying Jill Biden was forced to return to Denver International Airport (DEN) due to a technical issue.
“Due to an aircraft issue en route Michigan, the First Lady was diverted back to Denver, Colorado. Her trip to Michigan will be postponed to a later date,” tweeted Vanessa Valdivia, the Press Secretary to the First Lady Jill Biden and Special Assistant to the president of the United States.
In a separate tweet she added that “everyone is safe”.
The aircraft, registered as 02-0042 and with callsign EXEC1F, departed DEN at around 11:14 AM local time (UTC -6) on April 3, 2023, according to ADS-B Exchange data. The C-40B Clipper began climbing, reaching a peak barometric altitude of 10,300 feet. It began circling at approximately 11:23 AM local time (UTC -6), around 10 minutes after departure.
According to a CBS News report, a spokeswoman for the United States Air Force (USAF) 89th Airlift Wing said that the problem was “a non-threatening windshield crack”, which is why the crew decided to divert back to its origin airport to “mitigate risks associated with the integrity of the windshield and icing conditions at their destination”.
The crew did not squawk 7700, the general code for emergencies, landing at DEN at around 12:11 AM local time (UTC -6), the flight’s records from ADS-B Exchange shows.