He's Okay

British Prime Minister Tony Blair's campaign plane, dubbed "Blair Force One," was struck by lightning Wednesday. No one was hurt and the plane was not damaged. It landed safely at London's Heathrow Airport without further incident.

"All I remember was a red and white flash just in my mind which woke me up with a start," said BBC producer Will Walden, who was on the aircraft with the prime minister. "The plane wobbled from side to side but it was also quite rough anyway because it was pretty cloudy and rainy. Lots of people looked momentarily shocked."

Another BBC employee, Peter Allen, said Blair appeared "imperturbable" after the flash and loud bang. "The rest of us certainly weren't imperturbable," he said.

Indeed, others on board said Blair was absolutely calm during the incident. When one journalist having a private conversation with the prime minister suggested to him that the aircraft might have been hit by a missile, he simply shrugged his shoulders and "didn't bat an eyelid."

It was at least the second time Blair's plane had been hit by lightning -- the first on a recent trip to Washington.

British lightning appeared nonpartisan Wednesday. Conservative leader Michael Howard's helicopter was down with engine troubles as he took to the sky. He had to fly commercial. At one point in the flight, the captain announced that a "pop" heard in the cabin was a lightning strike 15 miles away. Again, there were no injuries and no reports of damage to the plane.

FMI: www.number-10.gov.uk