Chapter 5. Special Flight Handling
Section
1. Presidential Aircraft
5-1-1. ADVANCE
COORDINATION
NOTE-
Presidential aircraft and entourage, referred to herein, include
aircraft and entourage of the President, the Vice President, or other
public figures designated by the White House.
a. An advance survey
group comprised of representatives of the Office of the Military
Assistant to the President, the U.S. Secret Service, the White House
Staff, and a Presidential Advance Agent may visit each location which
the Presidential aircraft will transit. The visit is normally made
several days in advance of the trip to determine security aspects and
the availability of supporting services. On this visit the group may
meet with the airport operator, the ATCT manager, and other interested
parties. Based on the evaluation by this group, a decision is made on
the use of the airport, and further coordination is planned for an
advance group.
b. The
advance group, comprised of representatives of the same organizations
stated in subpara a, will meet with the same airport elements to
complete security measures and supporting services and determine the
necessary restrictions to air traffic operations before the arrival
and the departure of the Presidential aircraft and while the
Presidential entourage is on the airport. The security provisions may
include stationing a guard in the tower cab or at the tower entrance
and maintaining two-way communications between the control tower and
agents on the ground. This meeting will be held several days in
advance of the planned arrival of the Presidential aircraft. The
advance group has been requested to have all elements of the group
coordinate with the FAA simultaneously.
1. The
air traffic manager must appoint an air traffic supervisor to serve as
coordinator who will be responsible for attending all meetings and
briefing all affected personnel. Additionally, the coordinator must
brief the ATCSCC and the appropriate ARTCC of any traffic delays or
restrictions.
2. All
advance coordination must be documented, with special attention given
to routes, radio frequencies, and assigned transponder codes. This
documentation must be made available to the personnel on duty who will
be handling the Presidential movement.
3. The
meeting must be attended by the ATCT manager, the coordinator, and, if
available, the supervisory specialist(s) who will be on duty and
directly involved in the control of airport traffic during the arrival
and departure, and while the Presidential entourage is on the airport.
4. The
air traffic manager must take whatever steps are necessary to ensure
that the Presidential flight, airplanes, helicopters, and entourage
are given priority. Restrictions will be placed upon normal air
traffic operations to provide priority unless directed otherwise by
the Presidential advance agent (USAF) or the Secret Service
representative; the latter when the Presidential advance agent (USAF)
is not directly involved. ATCT personnel must be guided by the
determinations of the advance group and must cooperate to the maximum
extent possible. The air traffic manager must consider the following
alternatives:
(a) Employing
air traffic control techniques to temporarily adjust or suspend the
movement of traffic to accommodate the arrival and the departure of
the Presidential aircraft and while the Presidential entourage is on
the airport.
(b) Requesting
traffic, by NOTAM, to voluntarily conform to restrictions in the
vicinity of an airport. The NOTAM must give details of the
restrictions and should be cleared by the advance group. It must avoid
any reference to Presidential activities and must be issued at least 8
hours in advance.
EXAMPLE-
ALL TRAFFIC CAN EXPECT DELAYS FROM (date/time) TO (date/time) AND FROM
(date/time) TO (date/time).
(c) The
time will normally be 15 minutes before to 15 minutes after the
arrival and the departure time.
c. If the advance group determines that
mandatory airspace restrictions are required, the Washington
headquarters office of the U.S. Government agency responsible for the
protection of the personage concerned will contact FAA Headquarters in
accordance with established procedures and request the necessary
regulatory action. The air traffic manager must advise the Service
Area office of the regulatory proposal. (See 14 CFR Section 91.141 and
FAAO JO 7610.4, Special Operations.)
NOTE-
The actions established herein do not affect the provisions of 14 CFR
Section 91.113(b); i.e., an aircraft in distress has the right-of-way
over all other air traffic.
REFERENCE-
FAAO 7930.2, Para 7-1-1, FDC NOTAM Categories.
d. To
ensure radio communications and radar service, the following should be
coordinated with the advance group:
1. All
aircraft in the flight should be assigned a discrete transponder code.
As a minimum, the lead aircraft and the aircraft containing the
President should turn their transponders on when flying in formation.
In the event of a formation breakup, all aircraft should squawk their
assigned code to facilitate auto-acquire.
2. Normal
frequencies are preferred over discrete frequencies.
NOTE-
Secret Service personnel will transmit progress reports on the
Presidential entourage to the affected tower as soon as possible.
e. Prior
to the actual operation, action must be taken to ensure that all air
traffic specialists who will be on duty during the arrival and
departure of the Presidential aircraft are thoroughly briefed
concerning the arrangements pertaining to the operation, including
movements of the Presidential entourage while on the airport.
f. At
military airports, the base commander will determine the restriction
or delay of flight operations into that airport and the need to issue
a NOTAM. He/she should coordinate his/her actions with the appropriate
FAA facilities if air traffic will be affected.
5-1-2. THE
PRESIDENT, VICE PRESIDENT, AND EXEC1F AIRCRAFT MONITORING
a. Advance
scheduled movement information of the President, Vice President, and
Executive One Foxtrot (EXEC1F) aircraft received from the White
House must be distributed to the air traffic manager of each
facility through which these aircraft will transit.
b. The
ATM will be notified of the scheduled movement of the President,
Vice President, or EXEC1F aircraft by the appropriate service center
office or, when time critical, by national headquarters through the
ATCSCC or the DEN.
c. The
President, Vice President, and EXEC1F aircraft must be aurally and
visually monitored by a supervisory specialist/controller-in-charge
(CIC) from departure to arrival as follows:
1. The
ATM of each facility through which the President transits must
ensure that a supervisory specialist/CIC aurally and visually
monitors the aircraft while in the facility's airspace.
2. The
ATM of each facility through which the Vice President and EXEC1F
aircraft transits must ensure that a supervisory specialist/CIC
aurally and visually monitors the aircraft while in the facility's
airspace where sufficient on-duty staffing allows.
d. The
supervisory specialist/CIC must:
1. Be
present at each sector/position providing ATC service to the
President, Vice President, and EXEC1F aircraft from the flight's
entry in the facility's airspace until the flight exits the
facility's airspace.
2. Aurally
and visually monitor these flights to ensure that separation,
control, and coordination are accomplished.
NOTE-
Supervisors and managers at FAA Contract Towers (FCT) are qualified
to perform the duties required in para 5-1-2.
5-1-3. USE OF
FAA COMMUNICATIONS CIRCUITS
Operations
personnel must expedite the movement of Presidential aircraft and
related control messages when traffic conditions and communications
facilities permit. Honor any request of the pilot concerning movement
of the aircraft if the request can be fulfilled in accordance with
existing control procedures. Also, honor any request of the pilot,
Office of the Vice President, Secret Service, or White House Staff for
the relay, via FAA communications circuits, of information regarding
the movement or proposed movement of the aircraft.
5-1-4. SECURITY
OF INFORMATION
FAA personnel
must not release any information concerning Presidential flights to
anyone outside the FAA except properly identified White House staff
members, Secret Service personnel, or appropriate military
authorities. Any inquiries from the press or others for information
regarding the movement of these aircraft must be referred to the White
House, the Secret Service, the Air Force, or their representatives at
either the point of departure or arrival. These security measures also
apply to information regarding the movement of Presidential or Vice
Presidential family aircraft.
5-1-5. MOVEMENT INFORMATION
Honor any
request of the pilot concerning movement of the Presidential aircraft
if it can be fulfilled in accordance with existing control procedures.
Also, honor any request of the pilot, Secret Service, White House
Staff, or Office of the Vice President for the relay, via FAA
communications circuits or Defense Switching Network (DSN), of
information regarding the movement or the proposed movement of these
aircraft.
5-1-6. COORDINATION
ARTCCs must
call CARF direct for ALTRV approval on any Presidential aircraft
international flight plan received less than 4 hours before departure.
5-1-7. RESCUE
SUPPORT AIRCRAFT
When rescue
support aircraft are used, the aircraft will depart from various bases
and will file flight plans which will place the aircraft on tracks in
proximity of the Presidential aircraft for contingency purposes.
Orbits may also be used by the rescue support aircraft. These aircraft
will be identified in the remarks section of the flight plan as
“Rescue” for purposes of radio and interphone communications.
REFERENCE-
FAAO JO 7110.65, Para 2-4-20, Aircraft Identification.
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