Secretary of State Antony Blinken's return to Washington from the World Economic Forum in Davis, Switzerland, was delayed due to a serious failure of his Boeing 737 business jet, the latest bad news for the troubled aircraft maker. It became news.
Blinken's plane suffered an irreparable oxygen leak; reported by bloomberg Wednesday.
Due to a problem with the military plane, Blinken had to wait for a replacement plane to arrive from Brussels to fly him home.
Meanwhile, the secretary's staff and members of the press were scheduled to return to Washington on a commercial plane.
Officials had reportedly previously flagged an oxygen leak, but were unable to resolve the issue in time.
Before joining the Biden administration, Blinken worked as a consultant for Boeing.
Blinken's jet, also known as a C-40, is an older model of the Boeing 737, different from the 737 Max 9 fleet that was grounded indefinitely last week after cabin panels flew off an Alaska Airlines flight on January 5.
On January 12, the FAA said it would need to re-inspect 40 aircraft and scrutinize the results to ensure the Max 9 is safe to fly again.
Blinken's original means of getting home has been in operation since at least 2003, the Air Force said.
The State Department did not respond to requests for comment.
