Vivek Ramaswamy’s Campaign Plane Loses Oxygen Mid-Air, Cancels Event Appearance

Republican presidential contender Vivek Ramaswamy canceled a campaign stop in Michigan Monday due to depressurization in his private jet.

The entrepreneur’s plane made an emergency landing due to “an unexpected cabin depressurization issue,” his campaign said. No injuries were reported, according to NBC.

A statement for his campaign quoted Ramaswamy as saying he would appear at the event by Zoom rather than in person.

“I am glad that we can use technology to still engage with one another,” Ramaswamy said in the statement.

Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign says that due to “unexpected cabin depressurization” he will appear via Zoom at a planned event in Michigan this afternoon.

Ramaswamy, a tech entrepreneur running a largely self funded campaign, frequently flies private on the trail. pic.twitter.com/vAPVXZe88c

— Dylan Wells (@dylanewells) August 7, 2023

The virtual event, when it took place, had an audience of about 60, NBC reported.

As noted by the Daily Caller, depressurization means that the plane’s cabin lost the amount of oxygen required for humans to remain conscious while airborne.

Depressurization can lead to hypoxia, which is a deprivation of oxygen impacting the brain, Randy Padfield, former chief operating officer of Aviation International News, told ABC in a 2014 report.

“What happens first is your brain is not as quick. You’d get very confused and stop thinking clearly. Then you’d fall asleep and eventually die due to lack of oxygen,” he said.

Ramaswamy had been on his way to an event in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

Instead, he spoke from Columbus, Ohio, NBC reported. Ramaswamy owns a home in Columbus.

“We’re going to be back in a week as well. But I hope to see many of you when we visit but I did not want to cancel this occasion,” Ramaswamy told those who watched his Zoom appearance, according to NBC.

“It was a little bit scary for a hot second there,” Ramaswamy said about the incident plane. He said his wife and two sons were on board with him.

NBC reported that a woman in the crowd who said it was the second time she had tried and failed to see Ramaswamy in person was upset and declared to the room, “He’s in Ohio! He could have driven.”

NBC noted that aircraft issues forced Ramaswamy to cancel a July 21 event in Iowa and a July 22 event in Nevada.

“In the last several years I’ve flown commercial plenty of times, but out of necessity, if [I] need to get from point A to point B and the rate at which we’re going we actually are — if I have to get to point A to point B,” Ramaswamy said last month, according to NBC.

“Flying private is the fastest way. We’re looking at efficiency to do this,” he said.

In Iowa on Saturday, he called for making Election Day a national holiday, possibly axing the new Juneteenth holiday, according to the New York Post.

“Single day voting, on Election Day. We will make Election Day a holiday in the United States of America, so there’s no complaints about it,” he said.

He said to make Election Day a holiday, an existing one needs to go.

“Cancel Juneteenth or one of the other useless ones we made up,” Ramaswamy said, according to the Post. “You can’t have everything be a holiday, but we’ll cancel one of the other ones and make Election Day a holiday.”