US President Donald Trump’s secret aircraft switch while leaving Turkey last month has brought back a little-known episode from Bill Clinton’s presidency.
In March 2000, Clinton used a decoy aircraft during a high-risk visit to Pakistan, landing in Islamabad on an unmarked executive jet while another US-marked plane arrived first to make it appear that he was aboard.
How Clinton’s decoy plane worked
Clinton was travelling through South Asia when he flew from India to Pakistan on March 25, 2000. The security plan involved two C-20 Gulfstream executive jets. According to reports at the time, Clinton was seen boarding an unmarked aircraft in Bombay, now Mumbai. Secret Service personnel boarded another jet displaying US markings and an American flag.
That marked aircraft landed first in Islamabad. A Secret Service officer who reportedly resembled Clinton showed up to create the impression that the president had arrived.
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{{/usCountry}}Minutes later, Clinton landed on the unmarked aircraft. United Press International (UPI) reported it as a “small, drab, grey executive jet with no identifying markings”.
The aim was to make it harder for anyone planning an attack to identify the aircraft carrying the president.
Why was Clinton kept out of sight?
Pakistan was considered a high-risk destination at the time. US officials were concerned about possible attacks, although the White House did not publicly link the precautions to one specific threat.
Historian Taylor Branch later gave a more detailed account in The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History with the President. He wrote that intelligence had indicated al-Qaeda marksmen were positioned in Islamabad to assassinate Clinton.
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"He felt bad for the pilots who flew an empty decoy plane with the markings of Air Force One, but this nerve-racking mission was their job," Branch wrote in his book.
"Clinton landed secretly off-schedule in an unmarked plane, taking with him the smallest functional entourage 'consistent with the dignity of the United States'," he added.
The claim about al-Qaeda marksmen comes from Branch’s later account and was not the explanation publicly given by the White House at the time.
Journalists were told about the plan
Susan Page, then a White House reporter and president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, has now revealed that journalists were briefed about the security arrangements before Clinton left India.
"They told me about the extraordinary security procedures being taken because of the dangers in flying there, including use of the decoy plane," Page said. “Of course, the dangers threatened the journalists covering the trip as well as President Clinton,” she told the Washington Post.
Page said she kept the briefing private because it was off the record.
"I haven't spoken about this episode before, because of the off-the-record ground rules of the discussion," Page said. "But since more than a quarter-century has passed -- and since the ruse became evident as soon as President Clinton disembarked in Pakistan -- I think it's OK for me to relay it now."
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Clinton’s Pakistan visit
Clinton met Pakistan’s military ruler, Gen Pervez Musharraf, during the visit. Their discussions covered Kashmir, Pakistan’s nuclear programme and terrorism.
He also addressed the Pakistani public in a televised speech. "Democracy cannot develop if it is constantly uprooted..." Clinton said.
How Trump’s operation compares
Trump’s reported aircraft switch followed the same basic idea but involved a different method.
According to The Washington Post, Trump was publicly seen boarding the former Air Force One in Ankara before being secretly moved to a smaller C-32A military aircraft. He was reportedly transported between the aircraft in an airport catering truck.
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Journalists and some White House staff believed Trump remained aboard the larger aircraft, which then travelled to Britain as a decoy. The operation was reportedly triggered by a credible Iranian threat.
Trump later addressed the unusual security measures, telling reporters the journalists had been “probably on a dangerous flight”. “But if I go, you go. Right?” he said.
White House communications director Steven Cheung defended the measures.
"As the President has said recently, there are many enemies of America who have their sights on him, and we use every tool at our disposal to address those threats," Cheung said.