Trio of senators have emergency helicopter landing in Afghanistan
Associated Press | Feb 21, 08 4:05 PM CST
Helicopters carrying three senior U.S. senators made emergency landings Thursday in the mountains of Afghanistan because of a snowstorm.
Sens. John Kerry, Joseph Biden and Chuck Hagel were aboard the aircraft. No one was injured, according a statement from Kerry's office. The senators and their delegation returned to Bagram Air Base in a motor convoy and have left for Turkey.
"After several hours, the senators were evacuated by American troops and returned overland to Bagram Air Base, and left for their next scheduled stop in Ankara, Turkey," the Kerry statement said. "Sen. Kerry thanks the American troops, who were terrific as always and who continue to do an incredible job in Afghanistan."
The lawmakers were on a trip this week that included stops in India, Turkey and Pakistan, where they observed the elections earlier this week.
Kerry and Biden are Democrats and Hagel is a Republican.
Biden is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Kerry and Hagel are members.
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