Air Force One landed at Ramstein Air Base at 3:17 am local time on Nov. 29.
Ramstein Air Base, Germany
November 29, 2019
Air Force One landed at Ramstein Air Base at 3:17 am local time on Nov. 29.
POTUS is changing planes here instead of refueling.
Deputy White House Press Secretary Judd Deere told the pool that the identical plane to this one that also serves as Air Force One, parked at Palm Beach International Airport, left Florida about an hour before the embargo lifted in Afghanistan. POTUS will be taking that plane back to Florida.
Deere said that a second plane always has to be with POTUS on trips like this. The smaller plane that also serves as Air Force One was already in Afghanistan so the second large plane came to Germany from Florida. Deere said the swap saves time and that the crew needs rest.
POTUS is now expected to arrive in Florida at about 7:30 am Friday.
Air Force One travelers were given their cell phones back just before we left Afghanistan.
Here’s a brief tick tick of POTUS’ trip, all times local.
He was on the ground in Afghanistan for just over 3.5 hours (1 hour longer than the White House had expected)
Nov. 27
7:20 pm: POTUS left Florida on an undisclosed plane
9:30 pm: POTUS lands at Joint Base Andrews
9:49 pm: POTUS boarded Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews
10:08 pm: AIr Force One took off from Joint Base Andrews
Nov. 28
8:33 pm: Air Force One landed at Bagram Air Field
8:49 pm: POTUS disembarked from Air Force One
9 pm: POTUS entered the dining hall, first stop in Afghanistan
9:45 pm: POTUS meets with Ghani at Bagram’s headquarters, second stop in Afghanistan (The pool was allowed in for a spray, where he answered a few questions, at 10 pm)
10:43 pm, POTUS delivers speech to troops, third stop in Afghanistan
11:19 pm: POTUS wraps up speech
Nov. 29
12:02 am: Air Force One departs Bagram Air Field
*POTUS was driven from each of the three stops in Afghanistan and to/from the plane in the 15-vehicle motorcade described in an earlier pool report.
One other bit of color from our flight to Afghanistan. In the press cabin, underneath one of the TVs, there is a digital clock that gives the times in Washington, local (where the plane is) and our destination. As explained in an earlier pool report, the pool was not told where POTUS was traveling and so the time for the destination was left blank until we landed in Afghanistan.