MANCHESTER — Vice President Mike Pence’s airplane struck a bird Tuesday upon takeoff from an airport in Manchester, causing the pilot to return to the airport out of caution, the White House said.
Pence was returning to Washington from a campaign event at an airport hangar in nearby Gilford, N.H.
When Air Force Two took off from Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, it struck a bird. A senior administration official, who wasn’t authorized to address the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the vice president and his entourage were in no danger.
At the event in Gilford, Pence briefly and indirectly lamented a “heartbreaking moment” in the coronavirus pandemic Tuesday, referring to the 200,000 U.S. lives lost without mentioning the actual number.
The milestone was reported by Johns Hopkins University, based on figures supplied by state health authorities. The real toll is thought to be much higher, however, in part because many COVID-19 deaths probably were ascribed to other causes.
Speaking at a campaign rally, Pence devoted about 6 minutes of his speech to the pandemic, for the most part praising efforts to manufacture ventilators, conduct widespread testing and develop a vaccine.
“We’re slowing the spread, we’re protecting the vulnerable, we’re saving lives,” he said.
He mentioned the dead only briefly before pivoting back to praise.
“In the midst of this pandemic we’ve come to a heartbreaking moment. It’s a heartbreaking milestone. There’s not a day gone by that I haven’t thought of families that have lost loved ones in the midst of this pandemic. Know that you’ve always been in our hearts and you’ll remain in our prayers,” he said.
“But I truly do believe because of what we’ve all done together, because of the president’s early action putting the health of America first, because of what our first responders and doctors and nurses have done all along the way, because of the compassion, and care and cooperation of the American people, I know in my heart that we have saved hundreds of thousands of American lives,” he said.