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Katzenbach dictates the oath, and Fehmer types it out. Tech. What a crew! President Johnson has never been on Air Force Onewhich is code-named Angel by the Secret Serviceat least not in flight. The two camps have arrived at Air Force One as if by instinct, propelled by different versions of the same understanding: This plane is for the president. In 1962, President John F. Kennedy became the first President to fly in a jet specifically built for presidential use a modified Boeing 707. Ken O'Donnell follows O'Brien into the stateroom. However, as president, he has to fly on Air Force One becauseof the official planescapabilities for defense and security. "The press box will be on the left front of the aircraft. President Dwight D. Eisenhower used a Boeing 707 Stratoliner in August 1959 to fly to Europe, and the rest is history. Air Force One also flies high itcan reach a maximum altitudeof 45,100 feet, which is far above than the usual cruising altitude for commercial flights. But Robert Kennedy has the fewest answers of any man in the world. There's room for officers, staff and guests on board. Ken O'Donnell, desperate to take off, heads toward the cockpit. His conversation is interrupted by the sound of hammering. Just like a normal jetliner, Air Force One has a crew to fly the plane and a steward crew to prepare and serve meals and to clean the aircraft. Goodbye.". 2 Colors. It doesnt represent an individual president, says Todd Harrison, the director of the Aerospace Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. After the casket fight at Parkland, O'Donnell fears that Air Force One will be refused air clearance or even intercepted by swarms of local cops. Onwards to Buckingham Palace The US president and First Lady Melania Trump are in the UK as guests of the Queen. Bystanders look on as Jacqueline Kennedy reaches over to help her husband, who lies on the rear of a car. Several cargo planes typically fly ahead of Air Force One to provide the President with vehicles and services needed in remote locations. Occasionally, the reporters ask questions of the grief-heavy passengers slumped around them. 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. 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. Chief Curry, Judge Hughes, Sid Davis, and Stoughtonwith his precious film still in the camera around his neckdash off the plane and down the ramp. There are enemies out there. "I think that was when the enormity of what had happened fresh struck me," she says later. He also disconnects Love Field's mobile air-conditioning unit from the plane. Washington, DC 20500. All of the agents are alive. Most of theon-board eats are created in a special, safe kitchenat Joint Base Andrews, where they are then vacuum-sealed and frozen; the crew then cooks or reheats meals onboard the plane. Thank you very much. The reporters receive frequent visitors, mostly men who want the recordthis singular historic recordmade straight. Presidents havent always flown in a Boeing 747. What can the president do if his Air Force One phone stops working? Join PopSci+ to read sciences greatest stories. Thenalong came the Boeing passenger jet. Although we think ofAir Force One as referring to the planes themselves, it istechnically a radio call namefor any plane on which the president of the United States of America travels. Swindal worries that President Kennedy's notoriously tricky back has leveled himhe was wearing his cumbersome brace when he left the planeand the motorcade, on its way to the Dallas Trade Mart for a luncheon, has needed to stop. Roberts talks briefly to Roy Kellerman, the Secret Service agent, his eyes brimming with tears. He wants her to stand beside him. Johnson says he will not leave without Jackie Kennedy, and she has let it be known that she will not leave without her husband's body. From flying well above where a commercial airliner can go, to serving as a de-facto bunker during a potential nuclear attack there are a lot of fascinating things to know about Air Force One . I ask God's helpand yours. Two o'clock Eastern Standard Time, some thirty-eight minutes ago." So, Air Force One is simply the plane flying the president. Accompanied by a Secret Service man, Vice President Lyndon Johnson, center, and Rep. Homer Thornberry leave Parkland Hospital in Dallas after the death of JFK. Air Force One has a top speed of 600 miles per hour, which is close to the speed of sound. Dr. George Burkley, Kennedy's personal physician, and General McHugh also gather around the back of the car. "Hi, Jackie," Robert Kennedy says, reaching her side. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. "It's the Kremlin that worries me," he says to General Clifton, as later reported by Johnson's biographer, Robert Caro. Today, this name refers to one of two highly customized Boeing 747-200B series aircraft, which carry the tail codes 28000 and 29000. Johnson cups the receiver with his hand and looks at his wife. In the stateroom, he wolfs down a bowl of bouillon and begins mapping a route, like a pilot,through the coming hours and days. "Oh, Kenny, what's going to happen?" Only a little more than twenty minutes ago, at 1:33 P.M., he had announced the president's death to the world in front of a chalkboard in a nurse's classroom. Dr. Burkley wants it known that he was with the president when he died. All of the customization and facilities cost a lot. "I'm petrified.". "Make it brief. 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. Jesse Curry, the chief of the Dallas police, is behind the wheel. But they still need a Bible. Swindal asks Trimble to radio the White House switchboard to find out what's happened, or is happening still. "We need steps on the right front of the aircraft," he says. Carter heard radio reports of dead agents on his way to Love Field, and he knows these reports are untrue. Great banks of floodlights have been set up; they are snapped off so that Colonel Swindal can see his way. flies on a C-32A, a military plane similar to a Boeing 757. "I know. Sergeant Ayres has laid out some blue Air Force One towels on it. "Love and prayers to all of you," Lady Bird says. Air Force One includes a medical suite that can function as an operating room, and a doctor is permanently on board. The White House Johnson, citing Robert Kennedy's alleged advice, will not be moved. "I'm here.". But now, a panel of aerospace and defense analysts is considering trading in the famous Air Force One jet for a smaller, less expensive aircraft to transport the president. Kilduff had also lost a son, four-year-old Kevin, who drowned while his father was away with the president. No need to ask! 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. 6 Colors. He paces in the hallway, his hands on his headhysterical is the word he later uses to describe himself. The Kennedy people dismissively called him Rufus Cornpone, the sort of man capable of ruining a good suit just by wearing it. and amends the end. The room begins to fill. "What wounds me most of all is that this should happen in my beloved state of Texas.". The president doesnt always fly on airplanes. Opt in to send and receive text messages from President Biden. Essentially, Air Force One is a gleaming, three-level, flying Oval Office, according to the White House. She asks if she can read it back to him, and she does, both Johnson and Kennedy still listening in their respective quiets: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.". Jackie, General McHugh, and the Irish Mafia huddle in the cramped space beside it. Liz Carpenter feels him before she sees him. She sits in her very particular brand of silence, her pink outfit stained with gore, flecked with fragments of her husband's skull and brain. Then the two men wait and cook, unaware of exactly what's unfoldingat the hospital only a few miles away. He leaves the bedroom and returns to the aft cabin, to Jackie and the casket. He tells her to call the office back. The men believe it should be lit in Boston, next to the grave of baby Patrick, father and son and city forever united. Heres what we know about the next version of Air Force One, which the Air Force calls the VC-25B, and the history of presidential aircraft leading up to the present day. Flying Saucers to Mind Control: 22 Declassified Military & CIA Secrets, Artificial sweetener may increase risk of heart attack and stroke, study finds, 'Unreal' auroras cover Earth in stunning photo taken by NASA astronaut, Wreck of long-lost US World War II submarine found off Japanese coast. ", "Oh, you're right, you know, you're right," Jackie says. The plane needs to be readied for takeoff immediately. "What's going to happen to you now?". Only Johnson is active. Air Force One can be refueled in midair. General Godfrey McHugh, President Kennedy's topmilitary aide, calls Air Force One from Parkland Hospital. If you can protect us at the White House, by God you can protect us at home, too.". "You can't do that!" "There was some difference of opinion between him and me," O'Donnell later tells the Warren Commission. In fact, theyrescheduled to be replacedwithin the next decade. 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. Kenneth Walsh, author of Air Force One: A History of Presidents and Their Planes, points out that President Truman wanted a distinctive design for his two-prop aircraft, the Independence. "He died of a gunshot wound in the brain.". Essentially, Air Force One is a gleaming, three-level, flying Oval Office, according to the White House. You have JavaScript disabled. Behind his closed curtains, he is certain that something larger is afoot. Four-engine 707 jets served as Air Force Ones from 1959 to 1990. 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW The onboard electronics are hardened to protect against an electromagnetic pulse, and Air Force One is equipped with advanced secure communications equipment, allowing the aircraft to. They understand that the ramp at the right front of Air Force One will go unused. "Perhaps later I'll ask Mary Gallagher, but not right now. Unsurprisingly, President Kennedys always-fashionable wife, Jackie, had a big impact on what we know today as Air Force One. Although many different types of planes have been used as Air Force One, thecurrent planes in operationare both Boeing 747-200 aircraft. He hangs up. The VC-25A planes used as Air Force One are the most well-equipped and well-defended aircraft flying. Through his headset, he listens to the report in disbelief. "Put it away somewhere," he says. Johnson takes out a pen and changes a few words("We have suffered a loss . Matt Hecht / U.S. Air National Guard. It has been ninety-eight minutes since President Kennedy died. O'Donnell shouts. O'Donnell takes his case for immediate departure to Johnson himself, who is still conferring with his Texas assembly in the stateroom. Why,use one of the 84 otherphones! "Bipartisan," Johnson tells Jenkins. And they talk about grave sites and eternal flames. I need you.". Sometime in 2024, if all goes according to plan, the Biden administration should receive a sweet new ride: the future version of Air Force One. "Have Dagger cover Volunteer." "I want them to see what they've done," she says again. The women start to cry. It is in a small box, still wrapped in cellophane. 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. What we do know is that Air Force One has a skin on it designed to ward off electromagnetic pulses if there was a nuclear war, says Walsh. Published Jan 19, 2021 4:00 PM EST. Cecil Stoughton climbs up on a couch, pressing himself against a wall. We'll have plenty of time later to say more." Eight men strain to lift the broken casket off the floor. If there's a conspiracy, here's the rest of it, he thinks. "I just don't believe that," O'Donnell says, even as he heads toward the bedroom. It stays wherever it has landed so that it can take off at a moments notice, as needed. 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. There was the world inside the plane and the world outside it, each knowing little of what was happening in the other; Stoughton was one of the few who had passed between them. I think you should, too. By contrast, runways on land often have 7,000 or more feet to . The nation suffers a loss that cannot be weighed. "It can't be allowed to detect a waver Khrushchev is asking himself right now what kind of man I am. "I jumped onto the left-rear step of the presidential automobile," Hill later remembers. Back in the communications shack, Swindal hears the first in a series of puzzling radio calls. "Mrs. Kennedy shouted, 'They've shot his head off,' then turned and raised out of her seat as if she were reaching to her right rear toward the back of the car for something that had blown out. "I have, uh, Mr. Johnson here for you.". "Find her.". The crew even knows how everyone likes their coffee. She is a tiny woman. ", Dr. Burkley makes his way back to join them. Jackie Kennedy comes out of the bedroom. Sign up to receive Popular Science's emails and get the highlights. Jackie sends Dave Powers forward with a message. Customize. Johnson then asks Kennedy where he should take the oath of office and what its exact words are. "That's where we live. Fifty years later, what happened after JFK died has fully come to light. On the careening drive to Love Field, Lady Bird had looked out a window and seen a flag already lowered to half-mast. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, her dress stained with blood, stands with Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, holding her hand, as they watch the casket of her slain husband, President John F. Kennedy, placed in an ambulance at Andrews Air Force Base. Among them are Bill Greer, the driver of President Kennedy's open-topped limousine; Roy Kellerman, who had been in the front passenger seat; and Clint Hill, who had sprinted forward to climb onto the back of the car, only seconds too late. The casket's sudden presence on the ramp is proof of a hollow northern victory.The men smash off the casket's long handles in order to fit it through the plane's door and settle it into the empty space in the aft cabin, where the two rows of seats had been. The Johnsons sit with her on one of the beds. So does another of Kennedy's military aides, General Ted Clifton, one more member of this mobile army. $130. It is now 5:58 P.M., Eastern Standard Time. Johnson sees him: "Would you ask Mrs. Kennedy to come stand here?" The questions are metwithsilence before Kennedy repliesthat he will find out and call back. By He was the first president to fly in the same Boeing 747-200s that are still cruising today, known as VC-25A. Ready for business (with 85 phone lines) or wartime (they really can withstand a nuclear. Now, during the last visit, Roberts looks up at Johnson and thinks, Mr. President, I know you want to talk, but I've got a lot of work to do. In the stateroom, Lady Bird Johnson pulls on her coat and hat, looking up at her husband, the president. That code name, of course, also became the public term. Theres a reason why every picture of the president coming out of the airplane takes place on a set of stairs. This iteration of Air Force One is historic for another reason:It carried his body back to Washingtonafter he was assassinated in Dallas in 1963. He presumes that the next version would have a similar system. O'Donnell asks. 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? Rob Verger is the Technology Editor at Popular Science, where he leads a team of journalists who cover everything from transportation and the military to artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. "Oh, Mrs. Kennedy," Lady Bird says, as she will later recall in her diary, "you know we never even wanted to be vice-president and now, dear God, it's come to this.". He does not want to say why; he doesn't know how far the news has traveled and does not want to be the bearer of it. I know the nation, and the whole free world, shares the sorrow that Mrs. Kennedy bears. Marine One isthe radio call sign for a Marine Corps helicoptertransporting the president. Inside, the President and his or her travel companions enjoy 4,000 square feet of floor space on three levels, including an extensive suite for the President that features a large office, lavatory, and conference room. Satisfied, he puts the card in his pocket. Lady Bird asks her if she can get someone to help her change. The interior is modified so that the 4,000 square feet (about 370 square meters) of. She is on her way. The Johnsons tell Jackie about their plans for the swearing in. Two million dollars' worth of the latest technology buzzes around him, teletype machines and radios and three separate phone patches. A supersonic Mach 1.8 twin jet executive aircraft will be the next Air Force One - could the US presidential plane get any cooler? "We carried it on the plane, we're going to carry it off the plane," O'Donnell says, and he chokes on the words. Its just $1 per month . Photo: Getty Images. Surely theres more, but most details of the planes defense capabilities are kept top secret, for obvious reasons. Her left glove is missing. Kennedy's staff members walk from the passenger compartment through the stateroom, on their way to the back of the plane. She has taken off her single bloody glove, but she has not changed her clothes or made use of the blue towels. He is sweating and ashen. Now he's given permission by Swindal to land and come aboard. Presidents have a mobile command center at their disposal on the Air Force One aircraft. ", He notes that no one raises a shade or opens a curtain for the entire flight. On Friday, January 22, the press secretary for the Biden administration, Jen Psaki, provided this update at the 39-minute mark of the briefing: I can confirm for you here, the President has not spent a moment thinking about the color scheme of Air Force One, she said. Building the replacement 747-8 jets will also be expensive an estimated $3.73 billion over 12 years. So it will be escorted by air force planes. Johnson calls Irving Goldberg, a lawyer and friend. I was so glad I was there," she says. McNamara should be on it, he says again. He jumps out with Curry. ", At some point, Hill visits Jackie at the back of the plane. Behind Swindal, in the large passenger compartment, two secretaries type press releases; farther back, in the stateroomwith its two fixed tables, TV set, and six chairs upholstered in goldall is quiet. Thank you very much. He's got to know he's dealing with a man of determination." she asks O'Donnell. "I think I ought to. Technically, Air Force One is the radio call name for any plane on which the president of the United States travels. Kilduff gulps back gin. In fact, the missal ends up in Lady Bird's purse. Cool night air rushes in, and with it a terrible silence and a blinding light. "He didn't look to the left or the right, and his face looked streaked with tears," she says later. Air Force One is believed to have never been refueled mid-air. In the meantime, he heads for the stateroom and turns on the TV. "My first reaction was that one of the Secret Service agents had fallen from a car," Trimble says later. "This is Lyndon Johnson," he says. Johnson goes into the relative privacy of the bedroom, Marie Feh-mer and Youngblood following him in. I forced her back into her seat and placed my body above the president and Mrs. Kennedy . Now Johnson has the means to order the country to war. Clint Hill will stay assigned to Jackie. Johnson asks Moyers, Valenti, and Carpenter to work on the speech he will deliver when they arrive at Andrews. We may earn a commission from these links. Finally he walks into the bedroom. "Thank you very much," Mrs. Kennedy says. "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.". President Obama and the first lady boarding Airforce one. It involves landing on a runway and taking off again without coming to a full stop. ", Johnson retreats to the bedroom to change his sweat-soaked shirt. "Air Force One" is one of two customised, high-tech Boeing VC-25A aircraft. The footage being shared in the social media posts was taken on December 23, 2020, and shows Trump landing on Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport in Florida, as seen in Fox News and . She will not move from it. "Will you please advise the press that normal press coverage, including live TV, will be allowed at the base?". ", Kilduff, whose code name is Warrior, talks over the radio to deputy press secretary Andrew Hatcher, code-named Winner, at the White House. Despite the fact that it is the airframe of a gloss-painted and hand-polished Boeing 747, Air Force One is a highly-sophisticated military aircraft with in-flight refueling capabilities and most likely contains a whole host of highly-classified systems and countermeasures. China's Mars rover may be dead in the dust, new NASA images reveal, Lab-grown minibrains will be used as 'biological hardware' to create new biocomputers, scientists propose, Insect that flings pee with a butt catapult is 1st known example of 'superpropulsion' in nature, Unknown lineage of ice age Europeans discovered in genetic study, Otherworldly 'fairy lantern' plant, presumed extinct, emerges from forest floor in Japan, Cosmic rays reveal 'hidden' 30-foot-long corridor in Egypt's Great Pyramid, The ultimate action-packed science and technology magazine bursting with exciting information about the universe, Subscribe today and save an extra 5% with checkout code 'LOVE5', Engaging articles, amazing illustrations & exclusive interviews, Issues delivered straight to your door or device. For the next 15 years, various propeller-driven aircraft served the President until President Dwight D. Eisenhower flew to Europe aboard VC-137A, a Boeing 707 Stratoliner, in August 1959. Live Science is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. It's a somewhat clearer answer if we take refueling out of the picture. I'll make you a Scotch.". Plus, there are living quarters to accommodate all of the senior advisers, Secret Service officers, reporters and other guests who accompany the president. Jupiter and Venus 'kiss' in a stunning planetary conjunction tonight. On 9/11, millions of Americans became glued to their televisions, watching in horror as hijacked planes attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Usually the pilot then circles the airport in a . In fact, Air Force One can seat up to 70 people. He runs up the ramp and onto the plane. It can travel at a top speed of about 600 mph (965 km/h). Lots and lots of money. 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. 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? The day started out rainy and overcast, but now the sun is out, and it's warm for late November. He needs a destination. Soon he will have much of it torn out. Now the damaged parents lean into each other, and together they talk about loss. Air Force Onecan seat up to70 people, which typically includes the presidents senior advisers, Secret Service officers, reporters from various media outlets and other guests who may be accompanying the president. The planenever parks at the terminalat an airport. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). The onboard electronics are hardened to protect the plane from an electromagnetic pulse, and the plane is equipped with advanced secure communications equipment,according to the White House website. Johnson kisses Evelyn Lincoln again. At least I owe that much to the country.". 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. Fehmer hangs up and informs Johnson that Hughes can't be found. "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. To the rear of the stateroom, Jackie Kennedy sits next to the casket, which lies along the left-hand wall of the cabin, lashed into place with bracing straps. "Mrs. Kennedy, we feel like we've just had", "we are glad that the nation had your son", "Yes, well, thank you, Lady Bird. He turns to kiss Lady Bird, near tears, on the forehead. When Kilduff walks back to tell Jackie of the decision, she seems to approve of it. "Do you want to go out there?" 18. Davis, watching from the tarmac, is shocked by the steepness of the ascent"almost vertical," he says. She reaches out and touches him on the back. But the hallway to the back of the plane begins to fill, packed with mourners standing shoulder to shoulder. Only the now former president is not. Other cars, with still more passengers, have already pulled up to the bottom of the steps at the plane's rear entrance. Bush. President.". Kilduff escorts three pool reporters onto the plane behind her: Sid Davis of Westinghouse Broadcasting, Merriman Smith of UPI, and Charles Roberts of Newsweek. Swindal doesn't know that Dr. Burkley has joined the long line of men on their knees in front of her, next to the casket. Charles Roberts and Merriman Smith frantically type their all-important pool reports.