Secretary Rice's Wild Ride

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Secretary of State Heads Overseas
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice heads to Berlin after a series of meetings in the Middle East focused on resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and a way forward in Iraq.

LONDON, Jan. 18 -- It was a wild ride with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today. Not the diplomacy -- the actual plane trip.

Rice curtailed her schedule in Berlin Thursday morning, canceling an interview, as driving rain pelted the city in advance of a horrific storm.

She had planned to go to London in early afternoon, but State Department officials learned that airports in Ireland were already shut down. There were reports of wind gusts as high as 80 miles per hour, with Britain blaming five deaths on the storm, including a man who was killed when a branch crashed on his car.

German meteorologists dubbed the storm "Cyril."

Der Spiegel, the German magazine, had four people waiting to question Rice, and they ended up with an abbreviated interview. But the German television station ARD lost out, even though it had reserved a room with three cameras for an interview for its version of "60 Minutes."

Rice had to rush to the airport to see if she could make it to London before the storm did. When the staff and reporters boarded the plane, no one knew if the plane would get to London--or if the stop would have to be canceled and she would have to head home.

The ride was pretty smooth most of the way, but then clouds began to appear as the Boeing 757 jet crossed into England's airspace. Then, the plane started circling London's Heathrow airport, where some commercial flights were still departing but eventually 123 flights would be canceled.

For about half an hour, the television monitor in the cabin displayed the same information: 9,000 feet off the ground, eight minutes until landing.

The descent began. The turbulence became increasingly heavy, even with the plane in the hands of skilled Air Force pilots.

Reporters began to joke that British Prime Minister Tony Blair -- who Rice was scheduled to meet -- might be a good partner of the United States, but with only a few months left in office, he certainly wasn't this important.

A cheer went up when the plane landed, and Rice came to the back of the plane to discuss, off the record, the bumpy descent with reporters.

But the fun wasn't over.

Reporters thought the plane was still moving but then realized that the high winds were shaking the jet. Leaving the plane was extremely difficult, as reporters and staff walked slowly down the stairs to avoid being swept off.

Rice had trouble as well. The wind whipped up her skirt. For a brief second, the Secretary of State had her very own Marilyn Monroe moment.