Amid war with Iran, Patriots plane brings Americans in Middle East back home

A New England Patriots plane was used to get hundreds of Americans home from the Middle East amid the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.

A State Department official shared on social media a photo of people boarding the jet, which landed in Washington, D.C. Friday morning. Assistant Secretary of State for Global Public Affairs Dylan Johnson said it was one of many State Department charter flights leaving the Middle East for the U.S.

The State Department said it paid for the plane, which is part of a charter company's fleet that the government uses. The Patriots organization had no involvement with the flight plans.

The Boeing 767 is painted with the team logo and colors, as well as six championship trophies on the tail. 

The two Patriots planes have been used before for purposes other than football travel. In 2021, one brought medical equipment and supplies to Haiti after a devastating earthquake. And in 2020, a Patriots plane flew to China to bring 1.2 million face masks back to Massachusetts as the COVID pandemic emerged. 

"When not in use by the team during the season, our team planes are operated by a charter company that uses the planes in their inventory of aircraft for various charter flights," the Patriots told WBZ-TV in a statement. "We encourage the charter company to use them for missions like this and other humanitarian and national interest type missions."