DAYTON, Ohio – Officials at the National Museum of the United States Air Force say interest is high in the Air Force One jet that brought President John F. Kennedy’s body back to Washington after he was assassinated in Dallas 50 years ago Friday.
Tour times at the museum’s Presidential Gallery are being extended to seven days a week through Dec. 1st to handle the increased number of visitors.
The Special Air Mission (SAM) 26000 is the plane Kennedy flew to Dallas, where he was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963, and it was on this airplane that Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as the new president, a moment captured in one of the iconic images of 20-th Century U.SA history.
The plane carried Kennedy’s body; his widow, Jaqueline; and Johnson back to Washington, D.C.
The U.S. Air Force Boeing VC-137C was the first jet made specifically for use by the President of the United States.
Built in 1962, it entered service directly from the Boeing assembly line.
President Kennedy had the aircraft painted in striking blue and white instead of the usual military colors to give it a distinctive look. “United States of America” was emblazoned on the fuselage and an American flag was painted on the tail.
Museum officials say this aircraft carried eight presidents: Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Clinton.