Gretchen Whitmer is facing a new round of questions about a much-criticized trip to
Florida after revelations that the air travel company she chartered for the flight wasn t actually authorized to perform charter flights.
Whitmer has previously faced scrutiny over the March trip, which she initially lied about taking, and which came after she had cautioned Michigan residents against traveling out of state due to coronavirus concerns.
The Detroit Free Press raised new questions for Whitmer on Monday when the outlet published a
reportrevealing Air Eagle, LLP – the air travel company that Whitmer chartered to visit her father in Florida – was not authorized by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to give charter flights.
The 39-year-old pilot of a small plane had to make an emergency landing Thursday morning on Interstate 355 in New Lenox because of a stalled engine, according to Illinois State Police. The pilot, 39-year-old Jason Bufton, took three female passengers, all of whom are from Wilmington, up in a “small, white Beechcraft airplane,” which landed on the southbound lanes of I-355 near Interstate 80 .
Plane makes emergency landing on interstate near Joliet
May 13, 2021 GMT
NEW LENOX, Ill. (AP)
A stalled engine forced the pilot of a small aircraft to make an emergency landing Thursday on Interstate 355 near Interstate 80 south of Chicago, according to authorities.
Illinois State Police Master Sgt. Brian McKinney said the pilot and three passengers were aboard the single-engine Beechcraft B24R when it landed on the southbound lanes of I-355 near New Lenox. After the landing, which damaged the aircraft, the pilot and three passengers all complained of minor neck pain and were evaluated by paramedics on scene, McKinney said.
Details about where the flight originated, its ultimate destination or how long it had been in flight were not immediately known.