Francois Hollande Changes Plane After Presidential Jet Hit By Lightning

French President Francois Hollande and his companion, Valerie Trierweiler, arrive to attend a ceremony at the statue of Jules Ferry at the Tuileries gardens in Paris, France, after the handover ceremony, Tuesday, May 15, 2012. (AP Photo/Christophe Guibbaud, Pool)

PARIS, May 15 (Reuters) - A presidential jet carrying newly inaugurated French President Francois Hollande was hit by lightning en route to Berlin and forced to turn back to Paris, but the Socialist was unharmed and took off again in another plane, a presidential source said.

Hollande, who was sworn in as president on Tuesday morning, was expected to arrive with a delay of one and a half hours for his first meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel after he set off in the second aircraft. (Reporting By Nicholas Vinocur)

Copyright 2012 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.

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Comments

[moundiou]

01:08 PM on 05/18/2012

Greek Gods are mad.

[mattgarodan]

11:40 AM on 05/17/2012

That plane trip must have been.. *puts on sunglasses* .. electrifying.

YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!

[1846]

04:47 AM on 05/17/2012

I like the picture which captions the story, his companion is, shall we say "distracting".
If Dominique Strauss-Kahn had won this election as it was expected before his unfortunate experiences in the Sofitel New York, I wonder who would have been in the picture behind Him?

[marinaurbach]

10:59 PM on 05/21/2012

Sinclair

[Blackorpheus]

02:07 AM on 05/17/2012

That wasn't just lightning that struck Hollande's plane; it was Sarkozy in the role of Zeus unleashing lightning bolts at his sworn enemy.

[LeslieNeilson]

10:09 PM on 05/16/2012

Struct by lightning !!!! Humm,He must have won the Power Ball Lottery. :-0))

[frstripp]

07:23 PM on 05/16/2012

Planes get hit all the time, and they don,t turn around at least the one I was on didn,t the skin
conducts the energy though it to pass on

[AgainstAnimalAbuse]

04:31 PM on 05/16/2012

Zeus from Mount Olympus sent a warning to Hollande not to mess with his people.

[Lechiffre]

05:39 PM on 05/16/2012

he can't send a message if he doesn't exist.

[AgainstAnimalAbuse]

11:20 AM on 05/17/2012

Sarcasm is lost on you!

[jmdziuban1]

02:49 PM on 05/16/2012

Shazam!

[Marshall Getto]

12:42 PM on 05/16/2012

My fellow Americans, lightning is a force of NATURE! Every lightning bolt that comes out of the sky isn't an act of whatever God-flavor is your favorite. Its really a nothing story. The fact that every third comment is about surrendering, God tossing around purposeful bolts, and scary-spooky-socialism, (even jokingly) speaks volumes about how ingrained our thinking can be regarding France & and how we perceive isms that many of us don't seem to fully understand.

[Hajnal]

02:10 PM on 05/16/2012

I was shaking my head in disgust, reading comment after comment on this thread. You are F&F, my friend.

[1swimmom]

12:16 PM on 05/16/2012

"But the Socialist was unharmed." who writes this stuff??? Why is this such a dirty word these days?

[jmdziuban1]

03:21 PM on 05/16/2012

Only in America. it comes with blaming working people for all the nation's problems. CEOs are heroes, workers are greedy lazy ingrates.

[Tim Janssen]

09:57 AM on 05/16/2012

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

[Vera Gottlieb]

09:54 AM on 05/16/2012

Lets hope it is a good omen!

[Angelica]

09:45 AM on 05/16/2012

It was just a jolt to re-energize him after the campaign. :-)

[FrenchImp]

09:03 AM on 05/16/2012

From the comments I deduce that Breitbart was a socialist, since God struck him to death.
And Obama is a true conservative, since God allowed him to be elected. And consequently he will be re-elected and all those who don't vote for him will be struck by the lightning and sent to Hell.

[Djay0252]

10:10 AM on 05/16/2012

delusional deduction

[seattleblogger]

03:47 PM on 05/16/2012

Apparently sarcasm is way over your head!

[Antoinette Meijrink]

06:45 AM on 05/16/2012

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[djuno1966]

08:18 PM on 05/18/2012

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dripping with teeth, that truth and goudem cheese will age in this year of pultritude