Ted Kennedy's plane hit by lightning.

[bigwillq]

BC-CT--Kennedy-Lightning,0164
Plane carrying Sen. Kennedy struck by lightning
Eds: Note Conn. angle in lede.
BOSTON (AP) — A plane carrying U.S Sen. Edward M. Kennedy from a commencement speech in western Massachusetts to his Cape Cod home on Saturday was struck by lightning and had to be diverted to New Haven, Conn., a Kennedy spokeswoman said.
The plane lost all electrical power and the pilot had to fly the plane manually, according to Melissa Wagoner, Kennedy’s press secretary. No one was hurt.
The Massachusetts Democrat had just delivered the commencement address at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams and was on his way to Hyannis to spend Mother’s Day with family when the plane was struck at about 2:45 p.m., she said.
Kennedy planned to stay in Connecticut overnight because he is scheduled to deliver another commencement address at Springfield College on Sunday, she said.
The incident was reported to the Federal Aviation Administration, Wagoner said.
The FAA did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press on Saturday night.
AP-ES-05-13-06 2158EDT


Some how it just came over our wire at work now. But it says incident happened at 2:45 p.m.
Don't know if this is a dupe. This is the first I heard of it.

[Roland99]

1. Yikes! Glad everyone's ok.

[adigal]

77. Was it Cheney's lightning machine

that did it?? I would NOT be surprised.

[Lars39]

2. Glad he's OK.

That must have been scary.

[havocmom]

3. Did it hit a wing? Left or right?

:evilgrin:

[OKNancy]

4. Please post a link

Thanks


OKNancy
LBN Moderator

[bigwillq]

11. Don't have a link.

That's the only thing I have on it. My sis is watching the 10 o'clock news and she says she's heard nothing. I don't normally post in LBN so forgive me if I am not doing this right.

[Bjornsdotter]

5. Whoa

...and I was worried about Tice flying this week-end.

[babylonsister]

6. Holy moly! I'm so glad it landed safely! Any other result would just

be too sad. :-(

[AX10]

7. I am glad to know that he is safe.

Keep us updated if anything else happens regarding this.

[OKNancy]

8. Boston Globe link

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/05/13/plane_carrying_sen_kennedy_struck_by_lightning/

[bigwillq]

13. Thanks for the link.

At least it was verified by another source.

[cal04]

9. Kennedy Plane Diverted After Losing Power

6 minutes ago

BOSTON - A plane carrying U.S Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (news, bio, voting record) across Massachusetts was struck by lightning and had to be diverted to New Haven, Conn., his spokeswoman said.

The plane lost all electrical power and the pilot had to fly the plane manually, according to spokeswoman Melissa Wagoner. No one was hurt.

The Democrat had just delivered the commencement address at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams and was on his way his Cape Cod home when the plane was struck at about 2:45 p.m., she said.

Kennedy planned to stay in Connecticut overnight because he was scheduled to deliver another commencement address at Springfield College on Sunday, she said. The incident was reported to the Federal Aviation Administration, Wagoner said. The FAA did not immediately return a call.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060514/ap_on_go_co/kennedy_lightning_1

[Adelante]

10. Thank God he's safe

Whew!

[ellenfl]

12. ruh roh! i can hear the fundies now . . .

god is angry at teddy!

i'm glad everyone's ok.

ellen fl

[C_U_L8R]

18. no - god saved ted

that should make the fundie heads pop

[951-Riverside]

29. actually when it happened to Blair I saw alot of those comments here too

[liberal N proud]

33. I am sure that Pat Robertson will have something like that to tell

the few who follow him.

[woo me with science]

44. LOL. You beat me to it. nt

[GoddessOfGuinness]

41. Was god angry with Jeb when his plane was struck a few years ago?

There was another thug whose plane was hit around the same time...I can't remember if it was Dumbyass' or The Big Dick's.

[woo me with science]

43. LOL!

I am sure Pat Robertson will be talking about this tomorrow.

[vssmith]

63. Right! Like God was angry at

Paul Wellstone
and
Senator Carnahan

[progressivebydesign]

94. I think it's happened to Bush or Cheney's plane as well...

so the religious nuts will have to look elsewhere for secret messages.

[applegrove]

14. Oh my gosh. That would just be too harsh.

[onehandle]

15. Not his time. Not yet. His mission to make all freep's heads explode...

...is not over. Godspeed, Ted.

[Greeby]

16. Heart jumped out of my throat for a minute

Can't help but think of when I read here that Ted was supposed to be on the plane with Wellstone :scared:

[dailykoff]

17. Memo to EMK: stay out of small planes!

Please!!

[wakeme2008]

19. pic (of type of plane he was on)

and from article

The pilot had to fly the plane manually

Don't you hate that ... :rofl:....

[bigwillq]

22. Where did you find

a pic of the plane? :shrug:

[wakeme2008]

26. It is a picture of the type of plane he

was on not the plane. :)

[bigwillq]

27. Thanks for the clarification!

:)

[Up2Late]

53. What does that mean, exactly, "...had to fly the plane manually..?"

Does that just mean no autopilot or auto landing computer (sorry, I don't know what that one is called), or no Hydraulic controls???

Or is it just, rudder, stick and pedals controlled by the connecting cables?
(Sorry, I'm not a pilot, I hope you understand what I'm trying to ask)

[splat@14]

20. Aircraft lightning strikes are fairly common, strikes that black out the

cockpit are not. Could be a scary situation at night or foul weather, no big deal during daylight VFR ops.

[globalvillage]

21. Oh, thank God he's OK.

Love ya, Teddy.

[ckramer]

23. Uncle Ted, are you okay?

Take care!

[meisje]

24. It was a new weapon being tested by the Pentagon!!

C'mon... someone here is thinking this!:tinfoilhat: :hide:

[Name removed]

32. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[JanusAscending]

40. Pardon me, but I take offence at your statement,

especially when we have "spell check" for people who can't spell!! Who's the moran? Unless you forgot to add the "sarcasm" icon to your statement? DC

[Up2Late]

55. O.K. Now I can't tell if YOU are joking or not.

"...Who's the moran..?"

Did you mean to spell Moron like that? Do you know about the moran running joke we have here at DU?


In case you missed it, it's been a while.

[JanusAscending]

75. No I wasn't joking,

that's why I put " " on each side of the word. That's not the word he mispelled, but now his message is gone, so I don't remember which one it was. I took offence that he called Uncle Teddy a moran! Just that simple. DC

[Media_Lies_Daily]

60. You've apparently missed a great deal on this board. Maybe....

...you should do a search of past DU posts and discover the origin of the spelling of "moran". That way, you can avoid the personal embarrassment of wrongfully berating someone about using spellcheck.

[saigon68]

68. Like------ All your Moran are Belong to us

LOL

[JanusAscending]

76. As I posted above, I am well aware of the use of the word MORAN

on DU. Now who is belittling who here? That's not the word he misspelled, and evidently the mod agreed with me 'cause he's gone bye bye, and I am not the one who alerted them??:shrug: DC

[Kailassa]

91. well ... My first thought was ... "I bet it was a clear, sunny day."

Too much has happened to not look at everything suspiciously, these days.

But I wouldn't dream of blaming the Pentagon. Buildings aren't that smart, yet. ;-)

[mom cat]

25. I live in MA and did not see any thunderstorms. Did anyone else?

[bigwillq]

28. I live in CT

and didn't see or hear anything either.

:shrug:

[mom cat]

35. Sounds rather suspicious to me!

[RebelOne]

58. Take off your tin foil hat.

[mom cat]

93. I tried to take it off, but it is glued on too tight!

[JanusAscending]

39. I live in Ct. too...

It was on the 11:00 news on CBS Channel 3. If you're talking about lightening, I heard on the afternnon news that we could have sporadic T.Storms here in our area. DC

[gauguin57]

30. Gotta be terrifying for Ted, who survived a nasty plane crash in 1964.

Remember ... people were killed in the small-plane crash, but Teddy survived, all busted up (back, ribs, punctured lung, et al).

Anything like this lightning strike have to be terrifying for him.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

42. Considering what's happened to most of his brothers and sisters....

...it's a wonder he goes anywhere by plane:

THE KENNEDYS: A FAMILY TREE
<http://www.sptimes.com/News/111199/JFK/family-tree.shtml>

*Joseph Patrick Kennedy Jr., born July 25, 1915. Dies when his bomber, heavily laden with high explosives, blows up over the English Channel on Aug. 12, 1944.

*John Fitzgerald Kennedy, born May 29, 1917; 35th U.S. president. Married Jacqueline Bouvier on Sept. 12, 1953. They had three children. He was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963, in Dallas. He was 46. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis died May 19, 1994, of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system. She was 64.

*Rosemary Kennedy, born Sept. 13, 1918. The developmentally disabled oldest sister of President John F. Kennedy, died Jan. 7 at Fort Atkinson Memorial Hospital in Wisconsin. She had been institutionalized since 1941 because of retardation and a failed lobotomy. (My note: Oddly enough, her father, just like Prescott Bush, was a believer in eugenics.

*Kathleen Agnes Kennedy, born Feb. 20, 1920. Died in a plane crash on May 13, 1948.

*Eunice Mary Kennedy, born July 10, 1921. Married Robert Sargent Shriver Jr. on May 23, 1953. They had five children, including TV journalist Maria Shriver.

*Patricia Kennedy, born May 6, 1924. Married actor Peter Lawford on April 24, 1954. They had four children.

*Robert Francis Kennedy, born Nov. 20, 1925; U.S. senator and former U.S. attorney general. Married Ethel Skakel on June 17, 1950. They had 11 children. He was assasinated in Los Angeles on June 6, 1968.

*Jean Ann Kennedy, born Feb. 20, 1928. Former ambassador to Ireland. Married Stephen Edward Smith on May 19, 1956. They had four children, including William Kennedy Smith who was acquitted of rape in 1991 at the family's Palm Beach estate.

*Edward Moore Kennedy, born Feb. 22, 1932. U.S. senator. Critically injured in plane crash June 19, 1964. On July 18, 1969, involved in a car crash on Chappaquiddick in Massachusetts. His passenger, campaign aide Mary Jo Kopechne, drowns. Married Virginia Joan Bennett on Nov. 29, 1958; divorced in 1984. They had three children. Married Victoria Reggie in 1992.

[MikeStl]

57. wow

Talk about a family with some bad luck.

[whatelseisnew]

65. JFK Jr Also n/t

[RFKHumphreyObama]

59. And he was also supposed to be on Senator Wellstone's plane

The day it crashed. He seems to have had enough lucky escapes to have used up his nine lives -thank goodness he's still with us and may he continue to be with us for many years to come

[rodeodance]

31. Keep well Ted

[montana_hazeleyes]

34. OMG

I just logged in and pounced on this thread.
I just could not stand another Kennedy tragedy! I was 14 when President Kennedy was murdered and of course have experienced all the rest.

I'll say it scared me big time.

Thank Goodness or whatever or whomever to thank they came down okay.

Bless the Kennedy's. They have their faults but they have worked tirelessly to help those in need.

[bucknaked]

36. Scary stuff! Citation II has a under '5 cabin, too.

...talk about anxiety attack, I'd be freaking out during an in-flight emergency in a confined area like that.

[Endangered Specie]

37. sheesh, Kennedy's have some luck

[orleans]

38. teddy! stop flying!!! n/t

[caligirl]

45. Kennedy Plane Diverted After Losing Power

Filed at 10:37 p.m. ET

BOSTON (AP) -- A plane carrying U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy from western Massachusetts to his home on the coast was struck by lightning and had to be diverted to New Haven, Conn., his spokeswoman said.

The eight-seat Cessna Citation 550 plane lost all electrical power, including communications, and the pilot had to fly the plane manually, according to spokeswoman Melissa Wagoner. No one was hurt.


http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Kennedy-Lightning.html?_r=1&oref=login


O8) O8) O8) O8) O8) O8)

I haven't finished a thank you to him for the Enzi bill defeat. Time to get it done.

[MADem]

46. He was enroute to Hyannis and had to divert to CT

He has a gig in Springfield (graduation) tomorrow.

He doesn't like to fly, either. He survived a bad plane crash in his youth. He must be a bit shaken up.

[caligirl]

48. He lost a sister a nephew and a brother in crashes as well. I just

hope he stays off the planes for a week or so.

[Big Kahuna]

47. If they lost all electrical power and communications...

how were they "diverted to New Haven"? :shrug:

[caligirl]

49. They have procedures for this, maybe he had a cell phone.

[Ready4Change]

52. Many pilots carry portable radios, for just such situations.

When I flew regularly that was one of the things on my "next to buy list." If I were peddling around in a Cessna 550, you KNOW there'd be a portable radio in my bag.

[Stinky The Clown]

50. That's what I wanna know. New Haven is not even close to where they were

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2624509&mesg_id=2624586

[MADem]

51. It probably had the best divert facilities

Not all airports operate round the clock, and the wx here has been horrible. Pounding rainstorms in eastern MA.

[Stinky The Clown]

67. That could be, but I'll tell ya ......

Hartford and Providence have far better airports than New Haven. New Haven, as I said, only handles commuter planes. Hartford and PDX have 'big plane' operations and presumably far better electronics.

[Midlodemocrat]

71. Actually, New Haven is capable of handling jets.

United used to service New Haven from Chicago.

[Stinky The Clown]

73. Yup ... and so is Bridgeport/Sikorsky

but neither of them handle bigger jets now, unless I am mistaken.

Certainly New Haven is a viable and safe diversion choice. My point was, given the track from North Adams to the Cape, New Haven, on the face of it, seems an unlikely - an odd - choice.

[MADem]

86. He was still in WMA when the plane got hit

TFGREEN in Providence would have been a long haul. They were barely in the air when the emergency was declared, and probably figured best to burn off some of the fuel before attempting to land. It was a Cessna that he was in, not a large a/c.

Bet Ted took a car up to Springfield...the weather was even WORSE today. I'm waiting for Noah to sail by....

[karynnj]

90. The weather was possibly much better in the New Haven area

We drove from Worcester, MA to NYC yesterday afternoon - starting about when Senator Kennedy had a problem. The storm was horrible in MA, but much better mid way through CT and dry in NYC, though it may have rained earlier. So, this might be right - they might have wanted the landing to occur in a less stormy place.

[dailykoff]

54. Maybe landing wasn't part of the plan.

You know?

[BlueIris]

56. AHHHHHH. NOT cool. I was JUST thinking about him today.

On and off for HOURS. Like I have been about many name Democrats lately, some who have suffered major family losses, not to mention how lucky we as progressives are that NOTHING HAS HAPPENED TO THIS ONE. Who ties with JK as my FAVORITE. EVER. Jesus H. Christ. I think I'm awake now. Annnnd it's time to go scrounge for some tranquilizers if I wanna go back to bed.

Don't do that to us, again, lightening gods. Once again: NOT cool.

[Cookie wookie]

61. What this man has endured, yet somehow

he's managed to keep going.

Stay Safe, Senator Kennedy! We need you.

[Vogon_Glory]

62. G*d Answerred Right-wingers' Prayers And...

The Almighty has answered many right-wingers' prayers and has shown just what He thinks of their request. But I'll bet that this wasn't the result those right-wingers were hoping for.

:evilgrin:

Good! O8)

I'm glad to learn that Senator Kennedy, his fellow passengers,and the air crew survived.

[Gman]

64. Pat Robertson will have something to say this week on this

no doubt something a warning from God about his stance on abortion or whatever. The media will run with it, Robertson will apologize saying he was taken out of context, things will die down awaiting Robertson's next gaffe.

[Name removed]

66. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Gman]

69. Huh?

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

70. Rove and his fucking weather machine!

:grr:


:tinfoilhat:

[truthisfreedom]

72. H.A.A.R.P.

[IndyOp]

78. Best not to post anything else, just initials...

Last person who mentioned 'it' was banned from DU.

[Ian David]

81. Probably because they were an idiot who thought it controlled weather

or caused tsunamis.

One born every minute.

[Ian David]

80. Greetings from HAARP, Earthling Morans! Love, Xenu.

See also:
HIGH FREQUENCY ACTIVE AURORAL RESEARCH PROGRAM
http://www.haarp.alaska.edu/haarp/index.html

For live Webcam images of HAARP, visit:
http://www.haarp.alaska.edu/haarp/cam.fcgi

To arrange a guided tour:
http://www.haarp.alaska.edu/haarp/moreInfo.html

[sakabatou]

74. GOP calls it "wrath of god"

:grr:

[Ian David]

82. If so, Gawd must be a terrible shot. Teddy is still alive and well.

At least... that's what the person walking around saying he's Ted Kennedy wants us to believe!

Muhahahahaha!

[Raine]

84. God must love Teddy

since he spared his life. :)

[mvd]

79. Oh my - I'm glad he's ok

We need Ted!

[Mutley]

83. K&R

:bounce:

[bigwillq]

87. Hey thanks!

:hi: :hug: :pals:

[Mutley]

88. No problem.

:hi: :hug:

[happydreams]

85. That's the second plane accident for Ted. He was also put on

a terror watch list after 9/11.



...In 1964, Kennedy was in a plane crash in which the pilot and one of Kennedy's aides were killed. He was pulled from the wreckage by fellow senator Birch E. Bayh II (D-Ind.) and spent weeks in a hospital recovering from a severe back injury, a punctured lung, broken ribs, and internal bleeding.....

Grounded by terror watch list
During a congressional hearing on homeland security in August 2004, Kennedy revealed that he had been stopped from boarding airlines on multiple occasions because his name or a similar name had appeared on a terror watch list. Officials from the Department of Homeland Security later apologized and corrected the mistake.





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Kennedy

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

89. white lightning?

can't believe no one else posted this quip

[slide to the left]

92. The only person that approves of Cheney is...

appearently Zues.