A Spirit Airlines pilot recently flew a little too close to the president’s Air Force One while President Trump was onboard and got publicly scolded for it.
According to ABC News, on Tuesday (Sept. 16) Spirit Airlines Flight 1300, which was headed to Boston Logan International Airport from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., cut it a little too close for comfort to the president’s plane.
An air traffic controller popped onto the open line of communication and had a harsh message for that pilot: “Pay Attention! Spirit 1300, turn 20 degrees right,” the controller said, according to the LiveATC.net audio.
The air traffic controller then beefed up a little and repeatd, “Spirit 1300, turn 20 degrees right now.”
After that, he sternly told the pilot, “Spirit Wings 1300, turn 20 degrees right immediately!”
Apparently, the plane was a good eight miles from Air Force One, which is around 42,000 feet, and that was too close.
It’s interesting to see this side of things, as we have heard of flights being temporarily grounded while a President lands at the same airport. This is one of the first times we get to see how close is too close to get to Air Force One.
Once the Spirit pilot finally got the message and took control of the situation, the air traffic controller had to pop back on once again to give him another lashing.
“I gotta talk to you twice every time. Pay attention, get off the iPad.”
The air traffic controller wasn’t just assuming the pilot was playing on an iPad. The pilots use an iPad to help in their navigational process throughout the flight.
How Often Does Air Force One Get Used?
Air Force One gets used a lot. In an average year, it takes on 6,500 missions and logs nearly 12,000 flight hours.
How Much Did Air Force One Cost?
There are two of them, which have been in service since 1990, and they originally cost around $325 million each. That is approximately $660–$800 million per plane in today’s dollars.
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