Posted on 08/10/2006 3:17:37 PM PDT by LurkedLongEnough
WASHINGTON -- Among the thousands of frustrated flyers stuck at London's Heathrow Airport Thursday was U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, a jet-lagged casualty of worldwide delays and cancellations that grounded his family vacation.
"It's a nightmare, everyone's stuck, and our flight is apparently delayed until Sunday,'' the senator told The Associated Press by phone.
The New York Democrat and his family arrived at Heathrow Airport at 9 a.m. London time Thursday, but the plane was forced to sit on the runway for two hours before disembarking passengers.
When they finally got off the plane, they were greeted with the chaos caused by the arrests in a major international terror plot.
The Schumer family spent eight hours racing back and forth between Heathrow terminals just trying to catch up with their luggage.
"We now know the shuttle between the terminals better than we know the D train in Brooklyn,'' the senator said.
The first connecting flight to their planned destination -- Amsterdam -- isn't until Sunday, so Schumer said the family would probably head into central London for at least one night.
Schumer said that as chaotic as the airport is, he thought British officials were handling it well.
"The British are very good at these kind of crises, you know, a stiff upper lip, very helpful, but they don't seem to have much information,'' he said.
Schumer, his wife and two daughters had planned a two-week trip through Europe.
Oddly, he is not the first prominent New York politician to witness a major British terror incident.
When the London Underground subway system was attacked in July 2005 by terrorists who detonated backpack bombs on several trains, former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani was at a hotel just a few blocks from one of the explosions.
Too bad he won't just stay there foreever.
I wish it was Michael Moore, the guy who said "there is no terrorist threat"
Our hero! Roughing it at Heathrow! LOL
To all
Do we have to take him back?
For pity sake it *could* be worse! Self serving whiner.
Quick, get the roll call votes done right now in the Senate!
I'm really concerned for how this has affected Hillary. Did it cause her an inconvenience? Did it worry her? How did she handle the news? After all, it is always about Hillary.
Something has been playing on my mind all day. I was at heightened alert this week as my son flew back to the states from Heathrow on Sunday. The next day an American Airlines flight had to turn back to London because there were 4 people on the flight that were on a no-fly list. Does anyone think this might have been a 'dry run' like before 9/11? That possibility had been worrying me since Monday.
Uh, no Chuck, they just know better than to tell you anything they don't want the terrorist to know.
Chuckie is stranded with thousands and he gets a microphone.
Is there anywhere we can send chuckie where there is no media?? Would he go??
It's only a shame the beast and wuss-boy Ned aren't in the same predicament.
Perfect response!
"Is there anywhere we can send chuckie where there is no media?? Would he go??"
Yes. A republican meeting on the terrorist threat.
No
Hopefully he don't get back for years...
Maybe "W" will put him on the no-fly list, and he'll never get back to the U.S.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.