How being “forced down” near the “gates of Hell” was reported at the time:
A helicopter with three U.S. senators aboard — including former Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry of Massachusetts — has made an emergency landing in Afghanistan, the Associated Press is reporting.
Also on board: two-time Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden of Delaware and Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb. We’ll provide more details as they become available.
Update at 3:33 p.m. ET: CNN says a Kerry spokesman has told the network that the helicopter landed because of impending bad weather, that none of the three are hurt — and that all three now are out of Afghanistan.
Update at 3:43 p.m. ET: A Biden spokesperson also is characterizing the landing to CNN as more of an “unscheduled,” instead of “emergency,” event because of unexpected bad weather.