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.
Can we get the Brits to deport him as an "undesireable" to Tel Aviv where it will be learned he has never served his 20 months in the Isreali Defense Force even though he has an Israeli as well as a U.S. passport?
His wife looks like "Pat" from the old SNL skit. I hope they get to spend some quality time together lounging around in the airport LOL.
I just hope he's packing a $@*!&)#@ of hotel lotions and juices. It's gonna kill him to have to throw freebies away.
What's his problem? Can't he find a camera and a microphone there? What else matters to the man?
Agreed. The longer his butt is parked over there, the better off we are over here.
I wonder if this trip was paid for by the taxpayers or by some lobby.
NYT headline: "Heroic Sen. Schumer narrowly escapes death"
No, we could put him on a plane ostensibly headed for NYC but really going to Mogadishu. Once there Chuck can use his silver tongue and good intentions in convincing those good folks to cease all hostilities and act in a civilized manner.
Keep him Mother England, Please.
Maybe he will love Amsterdam and decide to stay there..forever..
sw
Can you imagine the conspiricy theories that would of been hatched had he been on a plane that went down?
If he was planning a family vacation to Europe, why is he on a plane heading back to the US? Something's fishy about his explanation.
Does this mean he won't be on the Sunday shows?
If only Biden were with him.
I sure he'll be in a "living hell" roughing it in a suite at the 4 Seasons London till Sunday all paid for by the US taxpayer.
How did this putz ever get elected??
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