As the quondam saying goes : what goes up must come down . Unless , it seems , you happen to be Air Force One – because the aircraft of the President of the USA , it turn out , has somehow managed to take off more times than it has ever land .
How is that possible ? No , you ’re not forget some terrible mid - air explosion or anything , and there ’s not some backup commander - in - tribal chief kept for good airborne just in font everything work nipple - up down here on Earth . In fact , it all comes down to a quirk of presidential protocol – and , weirdly , one of the most noted political scandals in US chronicle .
What is Air Force One?
Today , Air Force One – the “ President ’s office in the sky , ” per theWhite House – ordinarily refers to one of two specific aeroplane : a couple of extremely customized Boeing 747 - 200B serial publication aircraft , designated by the Air Force as a example VC-25A.
They ’re both doubtlessly iconic aircraft : “ Emblazoned with the run-in ‘ United States of America , ’ the American flag , and the Seal of the President of the United States , ” notes the White House , “ it is an undeniable mien wherever it fly . ”
The inside of the sheet is no less telling . foremost , it’shuge , spanning 372 square meters ( 4,000 hearty foot ) of floor space over three write up and containing its own power , league room , and a aesculapian suite that can even function as an operating room if necessary . And then there are all thecutting - edge tech features : electronics that have been made imperviable to electromagnetic hindrance , forward-looking untroubled communication equipment , mid - air refueling capacity , and , perhaps most importantly of all , a 50 - column inch blood plasma silver screen TV .
They’re subtle, but if you look closely you can see a few clues that this plane is American.Image credit: Michael Candelori/Shutterstock.com
But even though that ’s what people tend to mean when they say “ Air Force One ” , it ’s nottechnicallythe verity .
While most of our US readers are likely conversant with this little factoid , others may be surprised to take that Air Force One – despite often being name as the “ president ’s personal jet ” or similar – does not really relate to any individual plane at all .
alternatively , it ’s a call sign devoted to any US Air Force plane that happens to be currently carry the president – whether that be a Boeing VC-25A or apropellor - drive airliner from the ‘ forty .
Where it all went down: the Watergate complex as seen from the air.Image credit: Indutiomarus viaWikimedia Commons(public domain)
That ’s the first clue as to how the presidential plane can have possibly taken off more time than it ’s shoot down – so what ’s the eternal sleep of the riddle ?
Nixon and Watergate
The second one-half of this numerical mystery – that is , how a plane can possibly have taken off more times than it ’s landed – comes down to one of the most infamous political outrage in US political history : Watergate .
It all started in the former hour of June 17 , 1972 , when a group of burglars were caught stealing top - secret documents and bug the phones of the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate coordination compound of building in Washington , DC .
It was an election year : the incumbent , Republican Richard Nixon , was facing down Democratic rival George McGovern . Nixon had little to revere from his opponent – henever poll below 50 percentand would finally come through a 49 - state landslide with a more than 20 percent lead story in the pop vote .
But the Republican wasnotoriously paranoid and insecure , and if there was no way to de jure guarantee his success that November , then he hadno qualms about taking substitute routesto ensure his reelection . Among the more aggressive tactics used by Nixon ’s Committee to Re - Elect the President – also known as CREEP – was what would eventually be reveal as illegal espionage against the opposing party .
At first , Nixon vehemently deny any connection to the break - in . But the evidence soon started to pile up against him : when the Watergate invaders were caught , for instance , they were found to have copies of the re - election committee ’s White House phone number on them . Just a few days after the burglary , too , the perps were send 100 of 1000 of one dollar bill in hush money by the president – a practice known in effectual circles as “ pretty darn sus , at the very least . ”
But as bad as all that was , Nixon had to make things bad for himself . By aim the CIA to impede the FBI ’s investigation of the offence , his potential rap sheet acquire from illegal espionage to obstructor of justice and abuse of presidential ability .
With the eventual discovery and requisition of Nixon’sbizarrely obsessional recordingsof every conversation held in the Oval Office , the president ’s involvement in the conspiracy became undeniable . In July 1974 , the House Judiciary Committee vote to impeach Nixon for obstructer of justice , abuse of baron , and scorn of Congress , and his removal from business office was made all but certain .
So , on August 9 , 1974 , Nixon became the first and so far only United States President to quit from the top line of work . In atelevised addressthe previous evening , he diplomatically told Americans that , “ because of the Watergate affair , ” he “ might not have the support of the Congress that I would think necessary ” to continue as president .
“ Therefore , I shall resign the Presidency effective at noon tomorrow , ” he announced . “ Vice President Ford will be sworn in as President at that hour in this office . ”
The presidential flight that never landed
As forebode , Nixonleft the White House for goodthe next Clarence Day . At 10 am , he , his married woman , and his daughters were escorted to the White House lawn wherea eggbeater was waitingto take them to Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland . From there , the former first family unit boarded the presidential airplane for the last time , and aviate back home to California .
By 12:05 , the US had a new air force officer - in - chief : Gerald Ford .
But as you may have observe , that leaves about two presidential hours unaccounted for . Andthatis precisely where this Air Force One tidbit gets its origin .
Because Nixon left the White House so early that daytime , he was already in the gentle wind – specifically , he was39,000 foot above Jefferson City , Missouri – at midday , when the transfer of ability from himself to Ford occurred .
In other Holy Writ : formally , Nixon was President when the airplane coif off , but not by the time it set down .
harmonise to the rules of Air Force One , however , that means that the aircraft that left Andrews Air Base that morning – a Boeing VC-137C that Nixon had previously , and perhaps optimistically , dub the “ Spirit of ‘ 76 ” – bore the presidential call sign when it took off .
But concisely after noon , and only about a third of the way to its concluding destination of San Clemente , California , it lost the iconic appellation . It was no longer post the President , and so it had transformed mid - flight from Air Force One to kick old SAM 27000 .
Despite the pomp with which it had depart , the plane landed without the official call signboard , and carrying only private citizens . Ever since then , Air Force One has the distinction of having set off one more time than it ’s landed – an impressive statistic for any aircraft .
Here ’s hoping that , if only for the sake of symmetry , some succeeding president decides to be depose in at 39,000 feet , thus finally bring an end to this foreign mismatch in flight numbers .
[ H / T : Jalopnik ]
