WASHINGTON – Malfunctions on a state plane carrying Gov. Charlie Crist, three staffers and a Florida Department of Law Enforcement officer to Washington, D.C., Tuesday afternoon prompted the two pilots to turn the craft around and return to Tallahassee.

“Everything is fine. The pilots informed us during a middle of a briefing, and the governor kept us all working to keep our minds occupied,” said Crist’s spokeswoman, Erin Isaac.

About 45 minutes into the flight somewhere over Georgia, she said, pilots David Young and Jan Neilson detected three separate malfunctions, with mechanisms that control the tail and the steering, as well as the autopilot.

“The three of these had a cascading effect and they were not comfortable with continuing,” she said.

The plane then returned to Tallahassee safely.

The governor was to appear Wednesday morning with Sen. Mel Martinez and others at a roundtable on trade, and other appearances.

Isaac said his participation in that trade event has been scuttled, but that he still expects to arrive in Washington for later appointments.

“We’re working on an alternative form of transportation,” she said.

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