Senators OK After Emergency Afghan Landing

Helicopters transporting three US senators over mountains in Afghanistan were forced to make an emergency landing today due to a snowstorm, the Associated Press reports. US troops sent ground transportation for Democrats John Kerry and Joseph Biden and Republican Chuck Hagel, none of whom was injured, and returned them to Bagram Air Base. Their diplomatic tour has since continued to Ankara, Turkey.

The American troops were "terrific as always," Kerry's office said in a statement. The senators—all of whom serve on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, of which Biden is chairman—are on a trip that included a stint in Pakistan to witness the parliamentary elections there on Monday, as well as India and Turkey, the Associated Press reports.