Kerry forced to take commercial flight after plane breaks down

Secretary of State John Kerry was forced to fly on a commercial flight back to Washington from Iranian nuclear talks in Vienna after his Air Force plane broke down. 

{mosads}The Associated Press reports that it is the fourth time this year, and second time in three months, that the Air Force-operated Boeing 757 used to fly Kerry and his staff has broken down.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said it’s more than an inconvenience. 

“In the world we live in, we do high-stakes diplomacy via phone and secure phone,” Psaki said, according to the AP. “None of that is possible when any secretary of state is flying on a commercial plane without secure communications with hundreds of people.

“Every minute of their day is scheduled,” she added. “There is not a single flight where Secretary Kerry isn’t calling in via secure phone to an interagency meeting or receiving sensitive national security information, or reading classified information or briefings.”

The Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, even commented on the mechanical problems. 

“So it is not just our planes,” Zarif said, the AP reports, referencing Iran’s inability to update its aircraft because of U.S. sanctions. 

Kerry reportedly made light of the situation, saying, “If the hardest thing that happens in a given day is that you have to fly commercial, your life is pretty good.”