A military airplane carrying four members of the US Congress came under fire over Iraq on Thursday but the plane was not hit and no one was hurt, a spokesman for one of the lawmakers said on Friday.
The C-130 cargo aircraft conducted evasive manoeuvres after a night time takeoff from Baghdad, said Ken Lundberg, spokesman for Senator Mel Martinez of Florida, who was on the plane. In addition to Martinez, the plane was carrying fellow Republican Sens. Richard Shelby of Alabama and James Inhofe of Oklahoma, and Alabama Rep. Robert "Bud" Cramer, a Democrat.
Lundberg said Martinez had been told three rocket-propelled grenades were fired at the plane. But a senior US defence official in Washington said small arms fire appeared to have been responsible.
"He (Martinez) had just taken his body armour off and was getting ready to snooze," Lundberg said the senator told him. "Then there was a flash of light, and the plane started banking in different directions."
A statement from US-led forces in Iraq said the plane "observed surface-to-air fire" upon departure from Baghdad and dispensed flares and conducted "standard evasive manoeuvres."
The fire originated several miles from the plane's location, the defence official in Washington said, speaking on condition of anonymity as US forces in Baghdad were officially responsible for commenting on the incident.