India, Oct. 16 -- Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's plane announced an emergency after taking off from Belgium on Wednesday.

Flight data posted online shows a quick plummet to under 10,000 feet and an abrupt turn toward the UK, with early suspicion pointing to cabin depressurization as the cause.

Sean Parnell, the chief Pentagon spokesman, said shortly after that the cause was a windshield crack.

"On the way back to the United States from NATO's Defense Ministers meeting, Secretary of War Hegseth's plane made an unscheduled landing in the United Kingdom due to a crack in the aircraft windshield," Parnell wrote on X. "The plane landed based on standard procedures and everyone onboard, including Secretary Hegseth, is safe."

Soon after...