State Department uses Patriots team plane to evacuate Americans from Middle East

Fox News Flash top sports headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on FoxNews.com.

A New England Patriots plane was used by the State Department as part of its efforts to move Americans out of the Middle East as the U.S.-Israeli joint military campaign against Iran entered its seventh day. 

Dylan Johnson, the assistant secretary of state for global public affairs, posted a photo on X showing Americans boarding a charter flight out of the Middle East. 

The plane, displaying the Patriots logo and colors, landed in Washington, D.C., Friday morning, according to the State Department. 

A source told Fox News Digital the Patriots "encourage" the charter company that operates the team planes "​​to use them for missions like this and other humanitarian and national interest type missions" when the planes are not being used by the team.   (State Department via X)

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

"Americans boarding one of the many State Department charter flights leaving the Middle East to the U.S.," Johnson wrote on X. "This plane landed safely this morning in Washington."

A source told Fox News Digital the Patriots "encourage" the charter company that operates the team planes "​​to use them for missions like this and other humanitarian and national interest type missions" when the planes are not being used by the team.  

The New England Patriots' team plane delivers N95 masks from Shenzhen, China, to Logan International Airport in Boston April 2, 2020, to help slow the spread of the coronavirus outbreak. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

The Associated Press reported Friday that the Patriots plane was the second such flight to land at Dulles International Airport outside Washington. The NFL team reportedly