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| 2005-06-03 |
| Nine French fighter jets and a radar plane stayed overnight at Atlantic City International Airport after one suffered a mechanical problem and bad weather prevented them from returning to their aircraft carrier off the Virginia coast, authorities said Friday. The U.S. State Department was contacted by French officials after one of the pilots tried to buy fuel Thursday and couldn't because he didn't have the available funds on his credit card, a Philadelphia television station reported. "One reported a mechanical problem, so the whole fleet came in," said Holly Baker, an FAA spokeswoman whose office is at the airport. The planes, scheduled to perform Saturday at an air show at McGuire Air Force Base in Burlington County, were conducting military exercises with the U.S. Navy and landed at about 3:45 p.m., Baker said. The 10 planes stayed at the airport because of bad weather, she said. She said two of the pilots, accompanied by FAA security, stayed with the planes overnight. She could not confirm the television report about the failed gasoline purchase. Atlantic City International Airport officials did not immediately respond to inquiries Friday. A man who answered the telephone at its airport operations desk said he could not release information. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #23 SS: not under her own power |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-06-03 21:04 |
| #22 I know this is going to sound snarky, but I'm serious: Has the deGaulle ever been this far from port? (ok, so maybe it's a *little* snarky) |
| Posted by: SteveS 2005-06-03 20:12 |
| #21 Depends on how fast they can row. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2005-06-03 16:40 |
| #20 Do we surrender now, or wait for the deGaulle to put in at Norfolk for repairs? |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2005-06-03 16:32 |
| #19 How about that, the de Gaulle is there: The planes, which had been conducting military exercises, then sought and received permission for emergency landings at the airport here around 3:45 p.m. They were parked overnight on an FAA ramp at the airport and had clearance to take off at noon to return to the French aircraft carrier de Gaulle, off the coast of Virginia. Now why do I keep getting flashbacks of Midway? |
| Posted by: Steve 2005-06-03 16:22 |
| #18 If they had any sense, they would have waited for the Red Flag exercises and claimed asylum in Nevada. |
| Posted by: ed 2005-06-03 16:18 |
| #17 "Oh my God, we've got ourselves a natural disaster here." |
| Posted by: Crash Davis 2005-06-03 15:52 |
| #16 Lol, JFM! That would explain why the details are so sketchy, heh. |
| Posted by: .com 2005-06-03 15:51 |
| #15 gThis whole (non) story is about some French fighter jocks who concocted mechanical and weather problems so they could RON in Atlantic City and enjoy the casinos. No, the whole story is about French pilots fleeing Socialism and asking for political asylum in the USA like in the good old days of Soviet Union. ;-) |
| Posted by: JFM 2005-06-03 15:48 |
| #14 fighter jocks who concocted mechanical and weather problems so they could RON in Atlantic City and enjoy the casinos. Yeah, that's never happened before. Why do you think the specifications for the travel pods for fighters require enough space a flight bag and a set of golf clubs? |
| Posted by: Steve 2005-06-03 15:37 |
| #13 I think Angie broke the code. This whole (non) story is about some French fighter jocks who concocted mechanical and weather problems so they could RON in Atlantic City and enjoy the casinos. |
| Posted by: GK 2005-06-03 15:02 |
| #12 I didn't knew Major was senior officer. |
| Posted by: JFM 2005-06-03 15:00 |
| #11 Gasoline! Put that in your frog fighter jet! Another high-quality article from the Associated Press. Maybe it really was gasoline, for a car. They figure: we're stuck overnight, hell, let's hit the casinos. |
| Posted by: Angie Schultz 2005-06-03 13:39 |
| #10 squeegee your own damn windows, Frogboy |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-06-03 12:43 |
| #9 Spook, what happened to those French senior officers who were court-martialed for passing NATO intel to Karadzic? Also, appreciate any thoughts on this interesting nugget from an otherwise forgettable UK journalist's account of his brief stint with Marines fighting their way into Baghdad in '03: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,923-1636664_4,00.html âWhat kind of satellite phone do you have?â asked [Marine Col.] Buck. The phone was still in my hand. I looked at it. âItâs a Thuraya,â I said. âIâm going to have to take it,â said Buck. âI have orders to confiscate all Thuraya phones being used by media representatives.â My jaw slackened in a visual cliché of surprise. âI need your phone,â reiterated Buck. âAre you serious?â I asked. âWhy?â I could tell that the question irrita- ted him. Warriors donât ask for orders to be explained. He turned to the Marine behind him. âStaff sergeant,â he said, âdid the order for the phone ban give a reason?â âIt says the French sold the codes of the phones to the Iraqis, sir,â came the reply. âIt means the enemy can trace the signals, sir.â |
| Posted by: thibaud (aka lex) 2005-06-03 12:42 |
| #8 ...and they must buy it in 2 liter bottles. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2005-06-03 12:31 |
| #7 hey, Tom: the EU says all planes must use 87 octane, lead-free. And we all know the French abide by every EU regulation .... |
| Posted by: too true 2005-06-03 12:28 |
| #6 "She could not confirm the television report about the failed gasoline purchase." Gasoline! |
| Posted by: Tom 2005-06-03 12:26 |
| #5 Maybe differences in view-of-reality between the French Military and its civilian leaderhsip? |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2005-06-03 12:24 |
| #4 Nah. The planes, scheduled to perform Saturday at an air show at McGuire Air Force Base in Burlington County, were conducting military exercises with the U.S. Navy |
| Posted by: too true 2005-06-03 12:01 |
| #3 I guess we know where the DeGaulle is. Highly provocative, sailing off our East Coast. |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2005-06-03 11:53 |
| #2 The french don't have very good credit with me either. Regards, Kentucky |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2005-06-03 11:38 |
| #1 Equipment problems could happen to anyone. OTOH, to have a mechanical problem during a short flight just before you intend to fly at an air show and after time at sea for checkouts .... should be embarassing. Don't know if French arrogance will shed that like water off a duck's back, though. |
| Posted by: too true 2005-06-03 11:17 |