re: #499 lawhawk

As repeated above - any plane with the President on board is AF1. The plane yesterday could be one of two VC-25s (military version of Boeing 747), with SAM 28000 or SAM 29000 call signs (28000 and 29000 are the tail numbers). The planes are usually flown together since they are a backup to each other. With one plane out, that leaves only one at Andrews in case of an emergency.

It was a foul up, and the buck has to stop somewhere.

I fully agree, I was just pointing out that the one in the air didn;t leave the President without “the” plane if needed (not to mention that the one that was in NYC could be back in Washington within an hour or so)