Posted on 12/09/2004 8:51:36 AM PST by areafiftyone
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) 12.9.04, 8:10a -- Senator Dianne Feinstein is describing a harrowing experience during her visit to Iraq last week.
Feinstein told KCBS radio during take-off from Baghdad, the C-130 military transport plane she was a passenger on was forced to take evasive action because of a what may have been a missile attack.
The senator told the station that shortly after take-off, she could see light flashing through portholes on the side.
The pilot then began taking what Feinstein described as -- "extraordinary evasive action."
Feinstein says once the plane landed the pilot explained to her that there was no way to determine if the plane really came under a missile attack because once the warning system goes off, he automatically takes evasive action.
Feinstein says passengers on board were shaken up a bit, but she was not concerned after the first few moments.
There are some buckets and bottles tho...
Joe Biden told the same story on Imus yesterday morning. Must have been on the same plane or they had the same talking point memo to show how we are losing in Iraq.
I had no idea! LOL that shows how much I know!
I thought they put a porta-potty in for brass/VIP.
Bite it troll.
That's absolutely correct. And from where you sit on a C-130, you really can't see much out of the portholes.
Even commercial charter planes take off and land that way at BIAP (BGW).
I've seen light flashes on helicopters while flying from one base to another across Baghdad. They're common.
Di is just freaking out or just wants to be seen as a war hero. {Bwaaahahahahahaha!}
I don't think the pilot would have want to get dinged for expending all those flares and chaff if he didn't have an alarm.
So9
No missle, Senator, just a spark in the central fuel tank. We'll get the Gov't to produce a cartoon to prove it to you!
/sarcasm
You almost have to be standing to see anything thru the portholes on a C-130. I have SERIOUS DOUBTS she was standing during takeoff, especially on a combat extraction takeoff. She just needed a few minutes of fame.
I just read about evasive action --- no mention of chaff or flares.
Is this just Fineswine giving us the old liberal bs?
When my flight to Viet Nam got close to Bien Hoa airbase, the pilot came on the intercom and gave us a quick briefing about where we were and that we'd be landing shortly. He told us to buckle up and then gave a weather report. He said the temperature was unbearably hot and humid and that "there is light to scattered groundfire". This took a second or three to sink in. You could have heard a pin drop on that plane. Our landing pattern was quite an interesting ride too. Some things don't change all that much, do they?
Good luck to you in your next tour. My prayers will be with you and all your other brothers-in-arms.
LOL
Couldn't possibly be that the pilot was flying a prescribed evasive routine to avoid being targeted by ground fire as it departed Baghdad, could it?
Never fly straight and level in a warzone.
Too bad Feinswine didn't "accidently" fall off the open cargo door.
I hear she's asking Sen. J. F'n. Kerry for advice on how to parlay this into some Purple Hearts or a "Medal of Honor"...since she had to pick some rice from her in-flight meal out of her a$$...how inconvenient!
Not on a C130, there's no room. The last time I flew on one was during the PGW. The crew chief had rigged up a toilet. It was a toilet seat strapped to a garbage can and lashed to the side of the aircraft. He also had a shower curtain that the person could pull around themselves for privacy. But because of the way the cargo hold was configured, the shower curtain only covered from the neck down when sitting. So any female who used this makeshift toilet whould have her head sticking up out of the shower curtain when she was sitting down!
One would suspect this was a normal procedure (flares and a couple sharp turns) for any military aircraft taking off in a war zone while carrying congress people or any other potential "high value" targets.
Makes me thankful I took Delta took go to GWI (seriously, we had flight attendants and everything).
Dontcha just love how all these whiny Leftists who just hate GWB, hate the war and think absolutely nothing is going right in Iraq keep taking junkets to the place? Why Diane hasn't had this much excitement since Dan White killed the mayor of San Francisco, thereby making Diane the new mayor and launching her national political career. Maybe she thinks a little bit of evasive action in Iraq will help return her to the spotlight.
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