The voice of the Air Controller came back. “Your clearance checks. Go to Dulles tower frequency now.” Then, in a rare lapse of procedure, the controller said to one of his buddies, “Hey that sounds like the man himself!” The President chuckled as he dialled up Dulles tower on the radio and took control from Mike Wypich.
At 10:32 Eastern Daylight Saving Time, the President got the huge 747 smoothly off the ground, rotating to pick it up cleanly at 160 knots. He climbed away on runway heading in accordance with his clearance.
The captain raised the landing gear on signal and changed over to departure frequency, contacted Departure Control, and received instructions to turn left to a heading of 350 degrees for vectors to the Westminster VOR. The President started a gentle left turn, and after rolling the 747 out on the assigned heading, asked for the after-take-off checks.
The route Air Force One was to follow today would take it over Albany and Plattsburgh, and then on northward over Canadian air space to Montreal’s St. Eustache VOR, Chibougamau, Poste de la Baleine on the south-east coast of Hudson Bay, and then across Hudson Bay and the Boothia Peninsula on a course directly to Resolute Bay, on the 747’s Inertial Navigation System.
When the aircraft reached its assigned flight altitude, the captain and engineer settled it to cruise at 480 knots. At that point the President said, “Give me your ETA for Montreal, Mike, so that I can report as we pass over Albany VOR. When I’ve done that she’s all yours. I’ve got to get back and get to work again.”
The Albany VOR station was Air Force One’s first check-point where, by international flight rules, they were obliged to report to the air traffic control people their position, altitude, and their estimated time of arrival (ETA) at the next check-point.
The captain responded immediately, “ETA over Montreal is 11:35, sir.”
“Check.”
As the big aircraft sliced through the clear air on course and at designated altitude, the President checked his flight director instruments and his radio magnetic indicator needles. Their VOR receivers were tuned in to a frequency of 117.8 MHz, and as the aircraft passed over Albany the RMI needles moved from pointing towards the nose of the aircraft through 180 degrees until they pointed to the tail. Observing this station passage, the President pressed his transmitter switch and spoke into the microphone. “Boston Centre, this is Air Force One. Over.”
The reply was instantaneous. “Air Force One, this is Boston Centre. Go.”
“Air Force One is by Albany at 11:08, flight level 410 IFR, estimating Montreal at 11:35 en route to Resolute Bay.”
“Roger. Air Force One, we read two fast-moving aircraft your altitude at this time, moving your direction on intercept course about 50 miles from you at one o’clock position.”
“Roger,” the President replied. He turned to the captain. “You get that, Mike?”
“Yes, sir, I sure did. We’ll keep an eye open.”
“O.K.,” the President said. “You have control. I’m going to go back to my paperwork. I have to address the nation from this old bird at 12:30, and I’ve got to find out what my staff want me to say. You know how much us Texans like to be told what to say.” The President’s long angular face broke into a grin.
The captain laughed. “I sure do, Mr. President.”
With that the President took off his head-set, unstrapped it, and left the cockpit.
Ottawa / 10:40 a.m., EDT
As the three party leaders left his office, the Prime Minister motioned to Senator Thomas to stay. He went back to his desk, pushed the intercom button for his secretary, and asked, “Have you any messages I should know about?”
“No, Prime Minister, but I can tell you that Mr. Scott has been on the phone constantly, with people calling and trying to find out what’s been going on.”
“I’ll bet he has. Tell me the names of the people who’ve turned up from the press.”
“Peter Forbes, President of the National Press Gallery is here. You know him, Prime Minister. And the Executive Vice-President of the CBC, James Laing, came. He’s agreed also to represent CTV and Global, so there are just these two gentlemen.”
“Would you ask them to come in, please.”
The Prime Minister turned to Senator Thomas. “We can have a few words when these people leave, John.”
From the chair in the corner of the room which was to be his listening post, Thomas replied, with a wry smile, “Bob, I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”
The Prime Minister moved toward the main entrance door to greet Forbes and Laing as they entered the office.
“Peter, good to see you, and you, Jim. Have you people met Senator John Thomas? I’ve asked Senator Thomas to sit in on all the meetings I will be having in the next few hours so he can assist me in keeping some balance and perspective as well as give me advice.”
When they were seated, the Prime Minister gave them a rapid-fire rundown on the President’s ultimatum, the action he had already taken, and the plans to recall Parliament, bring in the premiers, carry out the major briefing the next morning, and convene the House and Senate during the afternoon.
Peter Forbes was almost beside himself with excitement. When the Prime Minister completed his explanation of the situation, Forbes practically shouted, “This is a fantastic story. Good God, I’ve got to get to my paper fast!” He looked around the room as if he were trying to figure out the quickest exit.
“Now wait a minute, Peter,” Porter said calmly. “That’s the real reason I want to talk with you and Jim. This might be the story of your lifetime, but it’s also the worst and most disastrous crisis this country has had to face outside wartime. You people are in highly responsible positions, and you’ll be among the first to recognize that if this story goes rocketing off, there could well be panic across Canada. I don’t want that to happen, and I’m sure you don’t either. So what I want to talk to you about is how the press can help control the situation.”
James Laing put in cautiously, “What do you have in mind, sir?”
“I guess what I have in mind is something that really can’t be done.” The Prime Minister turned away from the two men facing him and looked out the window as he thought the question over. “What I really would like to see is a conscious effort by the press, TV and radio people to play this situation down. I don’t want the newspapers to have four-inch headlines saying, ‘Crisis Canada’ or ‘U.S. Ultimatum.’ I don’t want the television and radio programs to be interrupted with emergency bulletins. I would like to see a sort of normal, everyday reporting of the U.S. proposals and how we are dealing with them, just as if we had a routine situation on our hands. I’m not suggesting for one moment that the facts be suppressed or that the news be controlled. My concern is that the people of Canada should not be panicked.”
Forbes, a peppery, excitable little fellow, the senior Ottawa Hill reporter with one of the Montreal papers, took the stance Porter had expected. In a rather hostile voice he said, “Are you suggesting, sir, that the press in this country are irresponsible or that we would deliberately go out of our way to over-emphasize the importance of this story just to sell newspapers? The press has always treated you fairly, Prime Minister, and I don’t see why you think.…”
The Prime Minister broke in. “I’m not making any such suggestion, Peter, but what I do recognize is that there are human beings running the newspapers and the newsrooms and television stations across this country. How they react to this whole situation will largely dictate how they will print the story.
“Let me lay the thing right on the table for you. I am very much afraid that there will be a strong and possibly violent anti-American reaction among the people of Canada, especially among those who live close to the