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Brittney Griner is back on US soil.
The WNBA star landed in San Antonio’s Kelly Field Air Force Base around 5:40 a.m. EST following her release to US officials in a prisoner swap for notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout in the United Arab Emirates.
Griner and three other people were seen getting off the Gulfstream G550 corporate jet, which landed at Kelly Field after a flight from the United Arab Emirates via Manchester in the United Kingdom.
The athlete — who was wearing basketball shoes, leggings and a hat as she emerged from the plane — was in “very good spirits” upon touching back down in her home state of Texas, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.
“Our team that flew back with her and met her on the ground tell us that she was in very very good spirits when she got off the plane, and appeared to be obviously in good health,” Kirby said on the “Today” show.
White House National Security Council Communications Coordinator John Kirby discusses the possibility of Paul Whelan’s release and Brittney Griner’s current condition: “She was in very, very good spirits when she got off the plane and appeared to be, obviously, in good health.”
“But we want to make sure, which is why we’re going to get her over that treatment facility and have her have all the access she needs to health-care workers, just to make sure that she’s OK,” he added.
Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens, who traveled with Griner, confirmed her arrival on Twitter.
“So happy to have Brittney back on U.S. soil. Welcome home BG!” he wrote.
Three white Ford Transit vans with US government plates pulled out of Kelly Field at 5.48 a.m., an hour and 15 minutes after Griner’s jet landed on US soil.
