Vance plane makes emergency landing due to malfunction

A charter plane carrying the Republican candidate for vice-president, JD Vance, was forced to make an emergency landing after a door malfunction on Friday.

The Boeing 737 had departed from an airport in Milwaukee, where the Ohio senator was attending a campaign event with police officers, and had to turn back for repairs shortly after take-off.

After being fixed, the plane continued on to Cincinnati, where Mr Vance lives.

Last week, former President Donald Trump was forced to divert course and make an emergency landing as he flew to a rally in Montana.

Mr Vance was travelling with his wife Usha, his dog Atlas, his campaign staff, and reporters when the emergency was declared on Friday afternoon.

A spokeswoman for Mr Vance, Taylor VanKirk, issued a statement, saying: "The pilot advised there was a malfunction with the door seal."

"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.”

According to the New York Times, the pilot made an announcement about four minutes into the flight asking passengers to fasten their seatbelts.

"Secret Service agents aboard the plane reacted with confusion and laughter, and it was not immediately clear to some passengers that there was an emergency until after the plane had landed," the paper reported.

The pilot reportedly came back over the intercom after landing to apologise for the “elevated heart rates”.

Earlier this month, planes belonging to both Mr Vance and Vice-President Kamala Harris happened to coincidently be parked near each other in Wisconsin.

Having a "bit of fun", Mr Vance strolled over to the aircraft used by each US vice-president and told reporters: "I just wanted to check out my future plane."

In May, Trump's plane clipped a parked private corporate jet as it taxied on a Florida tarmac.

No injuries were reported and it was unclear whether Trump was on board the aircraft. Hours earlier he had appeared at a rally in New Jersey.

• SIMPLE GUIDE: Everything you need to know about the vote

• ANALYSIS: Three ways Trump will try to end Harris honeymoon

• EXPLAINER: Where the election could be won and lost

• FACT-CHECK: Trump falsely claims Harris crowd was faked

• VOTERS: What Democrats make of Tim Walz as VP