White House Clarifies Report About Air Force One Sighting

In a footnote to President Bush’s surprise trip to Baghdad, the White House offered more information Tuesday about a sighting of Air Force One by a British Airways pilot.

White House Communications Director Dan Bartlett said the pilot of the British Airways plane radioed the tower in London and reported the apparent sighting.

The tower, apparently relying on phony flight-plan information filed to protect Air Force One’s identity, replied that it was a Gulfstream Five, a smaller plane.

Bartlett said he had left the wrong impression Thursday that the conversation had taken place between the British Airways pilot and the pilot of Air Force One, Col. Mark Tillman.

Bartlett said Bush was not aware of the spotting until he was on his way home.

British Airways spokesman Jeff Angel said that the airline has hundreds of planes in the air in Britain and that none of its pilots had come forward to indicate that they made the comments or overheard them. “We are not going to be asking every single one of our pilots,” he said.

The sighting occurred Thursday morning, just after daybreak, off the western coast of England, Bartlett said. If it had led to public disclosure of Bush’s trip, the mission would have been scrapped, Bartlett said.