The President left Waco secretly Wednesday at 8:25 p.m. Eastern (7:25 p.m. Texan) with a small pool, stopped at Andrews to pick up a few staff and a few more poolers, change planes and then head to Baghad. Both flights were what we think of as the normal Air Force One, Boeing 747 with the normal marking. The President landed in darkness at Baghdad International Airport at 9:31 a.m. Washington time (5:32 p.m. local) on Thursday, Nov. 27, Thanksgiving Day. He took off at 12:03 p.m. Eastern time, so was in Baghdad roughly 2.5 hours. ..............
Asked whether plane was flying under other code than Air Force One: "I'm not going to be able to go into all the security measures that are being taken and how we are flying. But it's safe to say that is correct ? that people on the ground do not know that this is Air Force One that's landing." ............
10:35 p.m. ? Stopped taxiing. The front door of the press cabin was closed, perhaps so we could not see some of the gear or personnel descending. Shortly thereafter, we stepped off the plane and were inside the super-secret Air Force One hangar at Andrews, with the other Air Force One at an angle abreast of the one we had flown in on. The floor is painted white, and the superstructure, which has girders that give it an industrial, hangarry look, is off-white. Red tape marked lines on the floor and a bright blue, low-slung tug was hooked to the plane. Air Force One rugs were at the bottom of the stairs.
***10:45 p.m. -- We walked the short distance between the planes in the noisy, brilliantly lit hangar and saw the President walking up the stairs that descend out of the belly of Air Force One, followed by Secretary Card, Dr. Rice and other aides.................