Article

2007-03-18 Iraq

Australian PM makes emergency landing in Iraq

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Posted by Fred 2007-03-18 00:00|| || Front Page|| [5 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 John Howard is a real leader. They need to fix his plane.

Posted by Hank 2007-03-18 00:05|| 2007-03-18 00:05|| Front Page Top

#2 A good wrap from the Australian Newspaper.

JOHN Howard overheard every development in the drama as smoke and fumes filled his C-130 Hercules transport while flying over Iraq on Saturday.
Sitting in the cockpit with the pilot, Flight Lieutenant Ben Poxon, the Prime Minister was wearing earphones plugged into the plane's intercom system.
Mr Howard, who was rushed off the plane after an emergency landing at Tallil, southern Iraq, said yesterday he never thought it was an attack and felt more confident because he could hear what was happening.

"I felt completely confident the RAAF would handle the thing well," Mr Howard said.

"They said they could see some smoke, I didn't for a moment think it was an attack, I just assumed it was something to do with the functioning of the aircraft."

Although the smell infiltrated the cockpit, it did not fill with smoke. There was no advice yesterday on what had caused the smoke and forced the emergency landing.

Soon after taking off at Tallil, where Mr Howard had met Australian troops based near Nasiriyah and inspected pilot-less flying eyes for Australians on patrol, fumes began to fill the body of the Hercules where about 20 security troops and RAAF crew and more than a dozen advisers and journalists were sitting.

As the fumes became stronger, smoke began to filter through the air and became thicker at the rear of the craft. Immediate checks could not find the source of the smoke and smell, with the pie warmer being ruled out first, and the pilot decided to call a PAN -- Possible Assistance Needed -- emergency, which is one step down from a Mayday call.

Everyone was ordered to put on emergency oxygen hoods, including the Prime Minister and Defence Force Chief Angus Houston.

The plane, then at about 5000 feet, banked sharply and returned to the tarmac to be surrounded by military fire engines as security rushed Mr Howard from the plane.

"I didn't feel particularly nervous -- I listened carefully and took very careful note of the instructions I was given by the SAS who was with me, I listened very carefully," Mr Howard said.

"But those RAAF blokes are so professional and calm in a sense it was better to hear it all and know what was happening than not to, because they handle it in such a matter-of-fact manner.

Posted by Bunyip 2007-03-18 10:14|| 2007-03-18 10:14|| Front Page Top

#3 pie warmer ??

Posted by Frank G">Frank G 2007-03-18 13:12|| 2007-03-18 13:12|| Front Page Top

#4 Frank G: Hot plate. Keeps the coffee hot, can be used to heat up lunch. It's usually electric.

Posted by Old Patriot">Old Patriot 2007-03-18 15:06|| http://oldpatriot.blogspot.com/]">[http://oldpatriot.blogspot.com/] 2007-03-18 15:06|| Front Page Top

#5 figured something like that...just thought the "pie" reference was odd

Posted by Frank G">Frank G 2007-03-18 15:11|| 2007-03-18 15:11|| Front Page Top

#6 "Pie" as in Four'N'Twenty, Yatala or Sargent's meat pies. Often declared to be "Australia's national dish". More familiar to Americans would be the Cornish pasty. From Wikipedia:

The meats allowed by FSANZ in a meat pie are beef, buffalo, camel, cattle, deer, goat, hare, pig, poultry, rabbit and sheep. Kangaroo meat, a leaner alternative, is also sometimes used. It may include snouts, ears, tongue roots, tendons and blood vessels. Only offal (such as brain, heart, kidney, liver, tongue, tripe) must be specified on the label.

Doesn't leave out much, eh?

Posted by Zenster">Zenster 2007-03-18 19:06|| 2007-03-18 19:06|| Front Page Top

#7 First Cheney's plane has to divert to Singapore for an engine problem, now Howard's a/c also has an issue. Something is not what it seems, methinks. Either that, or a bunch of Iranian aircraft mechanics have been hired by the good guys....

Posted by USN, ret. 2007-03-18 21:11|| 2007-03-18 21:11|| Front Page Top

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