GOP Official: Senators Land in Mobile After Reporting Landing Gear Problems

AP Breaking ^ | Oct. 29, 2002 | AP

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

MOBILE, Ala. (AP) - A plane carrying three U.S. senators bound for a campaign event in Missouri landed in Alabama after pilots reported problems with the landing gear, a Republican official said.

Ann Wagner, co-chairwoman of the Republican National Committee and the Missouri Republican chairwoman, said late Monday that a plane carrying Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., and Sens. Peter Fitzgerald, R-Ill., and Rick Santorum, R-Pa., reported problems with its landing gear and landed at Mobile.

A police report at Mobile Regional Airport indicated that a Challenger 250 landed safely Monday at 3:28 p.m. CST after reporting its landing gear was stuck. The report did not indicate the plane's point of origin, destination or the names or number of passengers, an officer said.

The three senators were believed to be flying to an evening reception promoting Republican Jim Talent, who is challenging Sen. Jean Carnahan, D-Mo.

Word of a possible emergency landing brought back memories of the plane crash last week that killed Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn. Wellstone, his wife, their adult daughter, three campaign staffers and two pilots all died in the crash as they were traveling to a funeral.

Talent wasn't scheduled to attend the Columbia event because of the death of his 91-year-old father, Milton Talent, on Sunday.

His opponent, Jean Carnahan, was appointed two years ago to serve in the place of her husband after he died in a plane crash just three weeks before the election.

AP-ES-10-29-02 0156EST

[paul544]

If Wellstone wasn't such a peacenik, I'd think something was afoot...

[chance33_98]

It's the democrats! :)

[MedicalMess]

Democratic mechanics sabatage republican plane... no news at eleven.

[GeekDejure]

An attempt to settle the score for Wellstone, eh ??? ;-))

[putupon]

If Wellstone wasn't such a peacenik, I'd think something was afoot...

Conspiracy theorists could come up with a plausible conjecture that the DNC sent an Arkancidist in to sabotage Sen. Welfare Wellstone's plane because of internal polls showing he was going to lose and therefore they wanted to put Fritz in at the last minute with a sympathy bump in the polls generated by that weepy announcement of Fritz entering with Welfare's teary survivors at his side that they are planning.

If foreign muslim terrorists can go to flight school, what's to say that a Craig Livingston type couldn't go to aircraft mechanic school?

[ingeborg]

Didn't Hillary shout at Paul Wellstone at some big Dem meeting in Mass. earlier this year? I could not find the article on this. Does anyone remember? She was a real bitch for him.

[Thane_Banquo]

The likelihood of Al Qaeda terrorism bringing down Wellstone's plane just increased.

[OldFriend]

Her hiney may have shouted at Wellstone, but this morning on the news I heard that altho clinton/gore/harken/and numerous other pols will be at the rally,er memorial for Wellstone, VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY HAS BEEN DISINVITED BECAUSE HE SAID SOMETHING NEGATIVE ABOUT MONDALE!

[rintense]

Yikes. Maybe the candidates should try the good old train stop approach.

[piasa]

VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY HAS BEEN DISINVITED BECAUSE HE SAID SOMETHING NEGATIVE ABOUT MONDALE!

So... what did he say? He's usually delightfully quotable!

And I'm sure it beats our old Mondale chant from way back when : "Fritz is a wimp!"

[OldFriend]

Don't have the details but it is clear that the dems are afraid of Cheney's star power! I hope he returns to campaign for Coleman Friday or Monday!

Heard the administration is sending Tommy Thompson in Cheney's place.

The dems are disgustingly shameless, but then we knew that!

[Theodore R.]

I understand Tommy Thompson's brother is in the process of handing the WI governorship to the Democrats on a silver platter -- by running as a third-party gubernatorial candidate himself.

[OldFriend]

No wonder the dems were happy to have him!

[twigs]

Interestingly, Hillary was at an event in Philadelphia, I believe with Rep. Hoeffel, when news came that Wellstone's plane had gone down. She cancelled her appearance. I found that to be odd.

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

Well, at least the prop didn't come off the plane like it did for Senator Inhofe!

[madison10]

Maybe Her Heiny-ness didn't want to be seen walking around with an ear-to-ear grin immediately following the news of Wellstone's passing.

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

Or commercial flight, maybe, instead of these chartered planes?

[rintense]

Yep. Although if anything happened to a commercial airliner wiht politicians on board, it would be ruled terrorism- more than likely planned and executed by the insidious Bush family.

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

For sure, but with the terrorists targeting trains these days? Maybe these "whistlestops" should be done by ...... teleconferencing?!