yellowwing
12-02-03, 08:07 PM
WASHINGTON - In a footnote to President Bush (news - web sites)'s surprise trip to Baghdad, the White House identified the location and time when Air Force One was spotted en route to Iraq (news - web sites) last week by a British Airways pilot.
Reuters
The sighting occurred Thursday morning, just after daybreak, off the western coast of England, said White House communications director Dan Bartlett. If it had led to public disclosure of Bush's trip, the mission would have been scrapped, Bartlett said.
He said the pilot of the British Airways plane radioed the tower in London and reported the apparent sighting of Air Force One. The tower, apparently relying on phony flight-plan information filed to protect Air Force One's identity, radioed back that it was a Gulfstream Five, a much smaller plane.
*We promise to believe you, if you promise to tell the truth! (Works every time ;) )
Reuters
The sighting occurred Thursday morning, just after daybreak, off the western coast of England, said White House communications director Dan Bartlett. If it had led to public disclosure of Bush's trip, the mission would have been scrapped, Bartlett said.
He said the pilot of the British Airways plane radioed the tower in London and reported the apparent sighting of Air Force One. The tower, apparently relying on phony flight-plan information filed to protect Air Force One's identity, radioed back that it was a Gulfstream Five, a much smaller plane.
*We promise to believe you, if you promise to tell the truth! (Works every time ;) )