A U.S. military plane carrying Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was forced to declare an emergency, a Pentagon official said.

According to Assistant to the Secretary of Public Affairs Sean Parnell, the incident occurred as Hegseth was returning from NATO's Defense Ministers meeting on Wednesday.

"Secretary of War Hegseth’s plane made an unscheduled landing in the United Kingdom due to a crack in the aircraft windshield," Parnell confirmed on X. "The plane landed based on standard procedures and everyone onboard, including Secretary Hegseth, is safe."