Blinken delayed in Switzerland after Boeing jet suffers 'mechanical issue,' new plane en route

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The State Department says the Air Force is sending a replacement plane to Switzerland to bring Secretary of State Antony Blinken home Wednesday after the aircraft he was traveling in was unable to take off due to a "mechanical issue."

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the incident happened after Blinken left Davos, where he was attending the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting.

"There's a mechanical issue. I don't know the nature of the mechanical issue, but he is in Zurich. He was scheduled to fly back from Zurich," Miller said. "The Air Force has a replacement plane inbound. We expect him to be back still tonight. But several hours later than originally planned."

According to Bloomberg, the aircraft, a modified Boeing 737, suffered a critical error after an oxygen leak was detected and it was not immediately fixable. The aircraft was subsequently deemed unsafe to fly.

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The update came hours after Blinken spoke during a Davos panel, where he called for stability in the Middle East and said the region was at "an inflection point" that requires hard decisions. He also projected confidence that a resolution could be made to end the Israel-Hamas war.

"We’re in the midst of what is human tragedy in so many ways in the Middle East right now — for the Israelis and Palestinians