3:51 EST – All Safe [url=”http://thegate.nationaljournal.com/2008/02/delegation_led_by_biden_safe_a.php”]
Delegation Led By Biden Safe After Emergency Landing In Afghanistan
Sens. Joseph Biden, John Kerry and Chuck Hagel are safe and unharmed after the helicopter transporting them made an emergency landing in Afghanistan.
“The helicopters transporting the Senate delegation in Afghanistan made an unscheduled landing this morning due to a snowstorm. There were no injuries and all members of the traveling party were safely transported to their destination at Bagram Air Base,” said Biden spokeswoman Elizabeth Alexander.
Biden is the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, on which Kerry and Hagel also sit. The three are in the region visiting Afghanistan, India, Turkey and Pakistan.
Biden is due to report on his trip before the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on Monday.
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Update 3:48 CNN says a Kerry spokesman has told the network that the helicopter landed because of impending bad weather, that none of the three are hurt — and that all three now are out of Afghanistan.
Update 3:39 A Biden spokesperson also is characterizing the landing to CNN as more of an “unscheduled,” instead of “emergency,” event because of unexpected bad weather.
Senators’ Copter Makes Emergency Landing
WASHINGTON (AP) — A helicopter carrying three senior U.S. senators has made an emergency landing in Afghanistan.
Sens. John Kerry, Joseph Biden and Chuck Hagel were aboard the aircraft., according to Jon Summers, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. The lawmakers are on a trip this week that includes stops in India, Turkey and Pakistan.
Kerry and Biden are Democrats from Massachusetts and Delaware, respectively, and the Republican Hagel is from Nebraska.
Source: ap.google.com via politisite
Tags: afghanistan | Delaware | hagel | India | Kerry | landing | Massachusetts | Nebraska | Pakistan | Turkey | Biden | Emergency | Politics | Senators | World
