Secretary of State Marco Rubio was on a plane to Germany on Thursday evening, when it reportedly aircraft turned around mid-flight and returned to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, Sen. James Risch (R-Idaho), was also aboard the plane. 

Apparently, a mechanical failure was to blame. State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce released a statement. 

This evening, en route from Washington to Munich, the plane on which Secretary Rubio is flying experienced a mechanical issue. The plane has turned around and is returning to Joint Base Andrews. The secretary intends to continue his travel to Germany and the Middle East on a separate aircraft.

According to an Associated Press report, an "official" said that the plane's mechanical issue "had to do with the cockpit windshield on the C-32, a converted Boeing 757," and it "occurred about 90 minutes after the flight took off from Joint Base Andrews outside of Washington." Axios global affairs correspondent Barak Ravid is reporting similar information. 

Rubio is traveling to Germany for the Munich Security Conference. He also has plans to meet with Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday. 

This is a developing story...