ATC Tells Pilot to Get Off iPad and Turn Away from Air Force One Carrying Trump

A Spirit Airlines Airbus A321 was told to turn away from Air Force One over Long Island yesterday while operating a flight from Fort Lauderdale to Boston. The yellow-clad narrowbody is said to have come within 11 miles of the Boeing VC-25A, a modified 747-200, that was carrying Donald Trump to the UK.

The A321's proximity to the quadjet prompted air traffic control to instruct it to turn to the right, with increasing urgency. While the two aircraft did ultimately retain a safe distance from one another, the controllers' frustrations with the situation were plain to see, with one quipping that the Spirit pilots should "get off the iPad."

What Happened?

Spirit Airlines flight NK1300 is a regularly scheduled commercial passenger service that originates at the American ultra-low-cost carrier's base at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL). Its destination is Boston Logan International Airport (BOS), with this being the first of two daily flights that Spirit Airlines operates on this East Coast corridor between the states of Florida and Massachusetts.

Flightradar24 shows that, yesterday, the flight left Fort Lauderdale at 08:10, and, as seen above, hugged the coastline on its journey north. However, towards the end, things took an eventful turn when, while flying over Long Island, ATC ordered the jet to turn away from Air Force One, with CBS News reporting that the two aircraft were 11 miles apart at their closest point of convergence. A Spirit spokesperson said:

"Safety is always our top priority. Spirit Airlines flight 1300 followed procedures and Air Traffic Control instructions while en route to Boston and landed uneventfully."

Air Force One Was Carrying Trump To The UK

The reason for Air Force One's presence over Long Island yesterday was the fact that the modified Boeing 747 was transporting Donald Trump, the President of the United States of America, to the UK for a state visit. According to Roll Call, the famous quadjet left Joint Base Andrews at 09:57 local time.

Its destination was London Stansted Airport (STN), where Trump, his wife Melania, and their entourage touched down at 21:07 local time. As such, Air Force One's close encounter with the Airbus A321 operating Spirit Airlines flight NK1300 will have come relatively early into its journey across the North Atlantic Ocean.

As detailed in the video above, the Spirit plane was firmly instructed to change its course in order to avoid coming into conflict with Trump's jet, with air traffic controllers in the region growing increasingly frustrated at the lack of response or action. As noted by Bloomberg, once the situation had been resolved, the Spirit crew were subjected to a final ticking off from ATC, and told to "pay attention [and] get off the iPad."

Safety Guidelines Were Never Breached

Despite the urgent nature of the air traffic control communications with Spirit flight NK1300 as it flew over Long Island in close proximity to Air Force One yesterday morning, reporting by both CBS and Bloomberg confirmed that safety guidelines were never breached. Indeed, while the jets came closer than would be considered ideal, their proximity would not have been considered an unsafe distance by the FAA.

A closer look at tracking data concerning Spirit Airlines flight NK1300 yesterday shows that the jet made the prescribed turn over Long Beach, just to the east of New York City, while beginning its descent from its cruising altitude of 37,000 feet. This came just under 40 minutes before its eventual touchdown at Boston Logan International Airport, where it landed in a safe manner at 11:03 local time (vs 11:13 scheduled).

Since then, the Airbus A321-200, which bears the registration N687NK and is 7.5 years old according to data from ch-aviation, has flown three more sectors. The first of these saw it fly from Boston back to Florida, albeit to Orlando International Airport (MCO) rather than Fort Lauderdale. It then operated a round trip to Columbus (CMH) and back, with its first flight today set to be NK2509 to Pittsburgh.