They understand that the ramp at the right front of Air Force One will go unused. It doesnt represent an individual president, says Todd Harrison, the director of the Aerospace Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Kennedy later denies he said anything of the sort. "You're going to have to back off just a little bit if I'm going to get you all in," he says to Johnson, and the foursome at the center of the portrait pushes back into the watching crowd. | Air Force One has a top speed of 600 miles per hour, which is close to the speed of sound. He calls Walter Jenkins and asks him to begin arranging meetingswith Cabinet members, with White House staff, with legislative leaders, his old friends and foes in the Senate. Colonel Swindal lifts Air Force One into the sky. Hanson, the copilot, rushes into the cockpit, something like numb. In his wake, the crews from two nearby passenger jetsAir Force Two, the vice-president's plane, and the Pan American charter for the accompanying pressstream past Air Force One's wheels, under its shining silver belly. "I'm sticking to you like glue," Youngblood tells Johnson. He ducks and runs up the ramp to the plane's front entrance, seconds after the stairs have been wheeled into place. The runway at Mildenhall is 9,221 feet in length, according to the base, which is enough for the light 747 to land at and depart from, especially given the short distance of its next flight. "Make it brief. "It was a sinking in," Roberts says later. $120. Air Force One also has two food-preparation galleys, a medical operating room and a doctor on board every flight just in case. LaceJackiewill deplane from the right front,away from the forklift, away from the body, away from the cameras and the lights. The "and like so many others, Swindal struggles with the following combination of syllables"President Johnson will deplane at the front of the aircraft. She is on her way. Johnson takes off his jacket in the rising heat and lies down on one of the beds. ANational Geographic videoshows a sign in the galley: President Bush took his coffee black with Equal, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice took decaf with cream and Equal on the side. Air Force One continues to fill.Although it normally carries about twenty-five passengers comfortably, it is now taking on most of Air Force Two's original passengers as well, nearly twice its usual load.The secretaries who cried before the TV have been told to leave and board the second plane. Like Ayres, he too doesn't know what to say. In 1962, he began flying in a modified Boeing 707. and amends the end. It was painted to look like an eagle, Walsh says. Join PopSci+ to read sciences greatest stories. Cronkite's voice cracks when he continues: "Vice-President Lyndon Johnson has left the hospital in Dallas, but we do not know to where he has proceeded. The frequency has been cleared"because the operator likely knows, too. Charles Roberts and Merriman Smith frantically type their all-important pool reports. 2 Colors. It stays wherever it has landed so that it can take off at a moments notice, as needed. Trimble radios Andrews and asks that a voice frequency be kept clear of traffic. So it will be escorted by air force planes. "You want your eyes acclimated," says Jon Lewis, a senior pilot with a major U.S. airline. On it, a single word had been scrawled: PARKLAND. Johnson, citing Robert Kennedy's alleged advice, will not be moved. Sign up to receive Popular Science's emails and get the highlights. The Air Force designation for the aircraft is VC-25A. That's almost the speed of sound. ", Kilduff, whose code name is Warrior, talks over the radio to deputy press secretary Andrew Hatcher, code-named Winner, at the White House. Whenever Air Force 1 takes off or lands, the FAA establishes a 'Temporary Flight Restriction'. He jumps out with Curry. The rest contain the infamous Doomsday Books, a range of retaliation scenariosRetaliation Able, Retaliation Baker, Retaliation Charlieand the estimated number of casualties that would result from each. In the event of an attack on the United States, the president would have everything needed to respond. Air Force One is maintained and operated by the Presidential Airlift Group, part of the White House Military Office. By Manchester's account, one contains cryptic numbers that will permit Johnson to talk to the prime minister of Great Britainand the president of France in four minutes. 2 Colors. President Trumps personal planewins out in fancinessover the utilitarian features of Air Force One thanks to ornate decorations such as gold-plated seat belts and custom family crests embroidered into the leather seatbacks, and even a movie theater. This article was first published in February, 2019. "It's the Kremlin that worries me," he says to General Clifton, as later reported by Johnson's biographer, Robert Caro. Eight men strain to lift the broken casket off the floor. The commercial skeleton is essentially custom-built to transform it, in the White House's words, into "a mobile command centre in . Swindal asks Trimble to radio the White House switchboard to find out what's happened, or is happening still. It has been ninety-eight minutes since President Kennedy died. "No, thanks. "There was some difference of opinion between him and me," O'Donnell later tells the Warren Commission. Air Force One's doors are locked shut behind them. "We carried it on the plane, we're going to carry it off the plane," O'Donnell says, and he chokes on the words. That's why, during his second term in office, President Barack Obama ordered a replacement fleet for the Air Force One program that will be built based on the new 747-8 series. Thank you very much. President! When the U.S. president needs to fly to another city or country, the primary mode of transportation is a huge 747 jetliner dubbed Air Force One. Every product was carefully curated by an Esquire editor. Cecil Stoughton climbs up on a couch, pressing himself against a wall. The smoke-filled air slowly begins to cool. I know you loved Jack, and he loved you", Lady Bird begins to talk. Several cargo planes typically fly ahead of Air Force One to provide the President with vehicles and services needed in remote locations. And the U.S. Air Force typically sends the president's bulletproof motorcade ahead of Air Force One in a C-141 Starlifter cargo plane so that the president has access to safe transportation at the destination as well. For comparison, commercial flights usually fly at an altitude of only about 30,000 feet (9,100 m). Operating Air Force One costs a lot of money millions. Whole bottles of Scotch are emptied. Carter heard radio reports of dead agents on his way to Love Field, and he knows these reports are untrue. His will be the first outside eyes to see inside. Presidents havent always flown in a Boeing 747. Fortunately, modern presidents have access to a variety of transportation options including flying aboard Air Force One. I saw a part of his skull with hair on it lying in the seat. But for now, the president is still using the traditional 747 jets in the Air Force One program to get around. A fryer. ", Dr. Burkley makes his way back to join them. Clint Hill will stay assigned to Jackie. Lockheed is building six new helicopters for Marine One, and the first is expected to enter service in 2020,according to CNBC. During the first 15 years of the Presidential Airlift Group, propeller-driven planes served the President of the United States. Youngblood radios Jerry Behn, the chief of the Secret Service, in Washington. .css-gk9meg{display:block;font-family:Lausanne,Arial,sans-serif;font-weight:normal;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;padding-top:0.25rem;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-gk9meg:hover{color:link-hover;}}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-gk9meg{font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.15;margin-bottom:0.25rem;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-gk9meg{font-size:1rem;line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0.625rem;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-gk9meg{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.2;}}@media(min-width: 73.75rem){.css-gk9meg{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.2;}}The Rot Beneath Green Labels on Forestry Products, Donald Trump Wants to Make 'The Jetsons' a Reality, They Promised Whistleblowers but Delivered Hot Air, Stock Buybacks Aren't Evil, They're Just Abused, Thomas More Society Joined Election Denial Chorus. The president has risen out of his gold-upholstered chair, ready to be sworn in. In a letter to William Manchester, the author of The Death of a President, Swindal describes the moment: "As the sun set on the flight from Dallas, flying over the storm clouds at forty thousand feet and darkness coming on so fast because of our high speed toward the East, suddenly realizing that President Kennedy was dead I felt that the world had ended and it became a struggle to continue. Air Force One is the callsign of any Air Force aeroplane carrying the president. It helps avoid confusion with other planes nearby, and the naming convention was established after an incident in 1953, when Eastern Air Lines Flight 8610 flew into the same airspace as President Dwight Eisenhower's plane, which was called Air Force 8610 at the time. The plane goes pin-drop quiet. Contact the author here. He notes that it even had tail feathers., Later, President Eisenhower had a four-engine jet, a Boeing 707, which had, Walsh says, a military style.. For example, during September 11, 2001, President George W. Bush had trouble with the on-board communications system, according to Walsh, who is a contributing White House and political analyst for U.S. News and World Report, and has traveled on Air Force One some 300 times. Lady Bird Johnson is in the second car with Congressman Jack Brooks and three more members of the Secret Service. "I have, uh, Mr. Johnson here for you.". But they still need a Bible. Have you seen videos of the president disembarking from Air Force One and then climbing into his usual tank-like limo even in another country? He can be blunt. In less than a minute, all four mortified people in the bedroom leaveJackie retreats to the aft cabin, next to the casket, while Johnson and his company scurry forward, to the stateroom. He pushes his way to the back. And last month, Defense Secretary James Mattis ordered a full review of the $3.73 billion presidential aircraft program, the Associated Press reported. ", "Yes," Mrs. Kennedy says. He also disconnects Love Field's mobile air-conditioning unit from the plane. Jackie sends Dave Powers forward with a message. So does another of Kennedy's military aides, General Ted Clifton, one more member of this mobile army. Ken O'Donnell, desperate to take off, heads toward the cockpit. Behind his closed curtains, he is certain that something larger is afoot. Congressman Thomas is the first of them to speak: "We are ready to carry out any orders that you have, Mr. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Ken O'Donnell follows O'Brien into the stateroom. Johnson has not ruled out a military response to the assassination. He summons O'Donnell. For a journalist, the drive to the location where Air Force One is to land is one of vacillating anxiety. "It can't be allowed to detect a waver Khrushchev is asking himself right now what kind of man I am. It wasnt until the Kennedy administration that the 707 received a blue and white paint job similar to what the current craft has. Johnson kisses Evelyn Lincoln again. The two men are not close, the scars and resentmentsfrom thenasty 1960 race for theDemocratic presidential nomination never having faded. "Where's Jackie?" "John F. Kennedy died at approximately one o'clock Central Standard Time today, here in Dallas," Kilduff said. An Air Force VC-25A doing a touch-and-go practice maneuver in 2013 in New Jersey. The planenever parks at the terminalat an airport. "I don't give a damn. Capable of refueling midair, Air Force One has unlimited range and can carry the President wherever he or she needs to travel. "What's going to happen to you now?". Other passengers have spent the flight with their foreheads cupped in their hands, disappearing into their own universes, invaded only by the occasional sob from elsewhere in the cabin and the chugging of typewriters. Jackie Kennedy, who had ridden in the back of the hearse with her husband's body, follows the casket up the steps and heads for the bedroom. Roberts bangs more ably, driving out sheet after sheet. As I lay over the top of the backseat, I noticed a portion of the president's head on the right-rear side was missing and he was bleeding profusely. He tells her they will be landing soon. I'm going to have a hell of a stiff drink. According to a report in Aviation Week, the suggestions for alternatives include a 737 jet by Air Force One's lead contractor, Boeing, and even a B-21 stealth bomber developed by Northrup Grumman. The questions are metwithsilence before Kennedy repliesthat he will find out and call back. If you can protect us at the White House, by God you can protect us at home, too.". Join PopSci+ to read sciences greatest stories. Evelyn Lincoln says later that Johnson's repeated demotion to Air Force Two "bothered the vice-president more than anything else." A welcoming community Embracing its rural character Focusing on its prosperous future, Copyright 2021 Prince George County, VA, Sixth District Court Service Unit/Dept. Now Swindal sees a pair of unmarked police cars screaming onto the runway over the morning's puddles and discarded welcome signs. A white hearse pulls up to the ramp at the rear of the plane, followed immediately by another car, and then another. Essentially, Air Force One is a gleaming, three-level, flying Oval Office, according to the White House. #aviation pic.twitter.com/7BmnCABLuG. Some of the Kennedy people have asked Johnson to bar the press from Andrews, to make their touchdown as invisible as possible. The VC-25A planes used as Air Force One are the most well-equipped and well-defended aircraft flying. I managed recently to spend some time with these professionals in their natural habitat. That code name, of course, also became the public term. Four-engine 707 jets served as Air Force Ones from 1959 to 1990. Trimble patches him through to his wife in Austin. "Thank you very much," Mrs. Kennedy says. In the crush of the moment, few people notice the man standing in the back, Stoughton's flash lighting up his spectacles, a steel briefcase in his hand. "I thought they were just wine heads.". Theres a reason why every picture of the president coming out of the airplane takes place on a set of stairs. As Swindal waits, he brings on only a light load of fuel for this afternoon's scheduled flight to Austin, part of the president's continuing tour of Texas. He has the wording of the oath. General Clifton wants to make sure his message to the ground has gone through: A helicopter will carry Johnson to the White House. President Dwight D. Eisenhower used a Boeing 707 Stratoliner in August 1959 to fly to Europe, and the rest is history. "This is Lyndon Johnson," he says. He believes she's at the Trade Mart, where she wentto see President Kennedy make his speech. "We were all doing second, third, fourth takes, realizing all of the implications of the thing as we rode back. Its the Presidential Factor. "But it didn't occur to me that the ramp would be removed and we would not be privileged to go down the same ramp with the body.". Sometimes, he takes a helicopter. Dr. Burkley wants it known that he was with the president when he died. What happens if there is a medical emergency aboard the plane? "God bless you, little lady," he says, "but you ought to go back and lie down.". Colonel James Swindal, a handsome forty-six-year-old carpenter's son from Alabama and the pilot of Air Force One, sits in the communications shack behind his cockpit, pushing back a roast-beef sandwich. It is in a small box, still wrapped in cellophane. "We're going home to the Elms," he says. Theres a reason for that. Other cars, with still more passengers, have already pulled up to the bottom of the steps at the plane's rear entrance. Robert Kennedy takes Jackie's hand. The current plane also has understandably secretive defense capabilities. The oath of office. The planes are highly customized Boeing 747-200B series jets that were purchased under President Ronald Reagan's administration and began service in 1990 under President George H. W. Bush. Live Science is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. The Dark Connection Between UFOs and Grisly Mutilations. Goodbye.". "Air Force One" is not the name of one particular plane. The specifics of this conversation will be forever debated; several of that day's calls are recorded, but no recording of this one has ever surfaced. You probably still remember the 1997 action-thriller film Air Force One and the movies famous scene, when Harrison Ford, starring as the president, pulls hijacker Gary Oldmans parachute cord and growls, Get off my plane! But how much do you know about the real Air Force One, the planes (yes, plural) that fly the president around the country and even the world? The name was adopted in 1953, after a commercial plane, Eastern Air Lines Flight 8610, entered President Eisenhower's airspace when he was on board his plane, which had a similar name Air Force 8610. While in the air, Air Force One has hidden electronic jammers and flares that can be deployed to divert heat-seeking missiles, according to the Defense Media Network. It looks as new as it did the day it was made, its soft black leather cover embossed with a cross. He finds Mary Gallagher and brings her back to the bedroom, pointing at the glove with his own bloodstained arm. His briefcase holds a collection of bulky packets, each bearing wax seals and the signatures of allthe Joint Chiefs. The two planes serving in the Air Force One fleet today have been in service since 1990, andone of them is always readyto fly. The Rot Beneath Green Labels on Forestry Products, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. "You must go in and tell the president," he says, still trying to catch his breath, "that this is a history-making moment, and while it seems tasteless, I am here to make a picture if he cares to have it.