Top White House aide's plane makes emergency landing

A twin-engine plane carrying President Bush’s chief of staff, Andrew Card, made an emergency landing in Nashville Saturday when smoke was detected in the cockpit, officials confirmed.

No one was injured when the Gulfstream 4 heading from Texas to Washington with Card and 12 others aboard landed, Nashville Airport spokeswoman Lynne Lowrance said.

She said the plane made an emergency landing about 4 p.m., and added the cause of the smoke had not been determined. One runway was closed for the landing.

Card and his party later boarded another plane and left for Washington.

White House spokesman Ken Lisaius said Card had been at Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Texas, where the president is taking a six-day Thanksgiving break.

“The pilots determined that to be safe rather than sorry they needed to make an emergency-style landing,” Reuters quoted Lisaius as saying.

V.Y.