THINK WHAT OUR FEELINGS WOULD BE IF THIS WAS

Dulles International Airport. Wouldn't you say we had a SERIOUS problem?

Plane with U.S. lawmakers fired on while leaving Iraq
updated 12:49 p.m. EDT, Fri August 31, 2007

(CNN) -- A U.S. military plane carrying three U.S. senators and one member of the House of Representatives came under fire Thursday night as it left Baghdad, Iraq, but it was not hit and flew safely to Amman, Jordan.

On the flight were Sens. Richard Shelby, R-Alabama; Mel Martinez, R-Florida; James Inhofe, R-Oklahoma; and Rep. Bud Cramer, D-Alabama.

Shelby described the situation as "kind of dicey."

"We were shot at by three rockets," Shelby said in a statement Friday. "It was dark as the dickens, and I was looking out the small window on the plane and I saw a shell. We saw them, they were popping, and we saw the flares."

Shelby added that the plane "started maneuvering, changing directions, shaking us all around, and then I saw another shell near the plane. It's a hostile area, it was a tough area, but the flight crew was very professional; they really did a tremendous job."

Cramer, in a separate statement, said, "Our plane leaving Iraq was fired upon, and it was a close call, but this is something that our men and women in combat face every day. The flight crew was outstanding, and I credit them for the way they handled the situation."