Expert: Paul Soderman - 4/10/2005

Question
Don't know if this is your department or not, but here goes....
Does Airforce One have any sort of compartment  that could protect the President in event of crash ?  Or is that even possible ?
The reason I ask is I am a fan of the TV show 24, and they just showed an episode with Airforce one being attacked.  Thanks.

Answer
Bob
Air Force One is a very special plane.  It has such things as counter measures to defeat air attack (decoys, electronics, etc.), hardened avionics to resist electromagnetic pulse from a nuclear explosion, it's own stairway and baggage handling for security, and more.  But the Air Force keeps details about the interior secret, so I don't know about any special compartment to protect the President.  I suppose Kevlar barriers could stop gun fire, but it would be extremely difficult to prevent catastrophic failure in the event of a full speed airplane crash.  Even if a compartment were built to withstand the shock, the deceleration alone would likely kill any occupants.  And the weight of such a compartment might be too much for the airplane.  But who knows, maybe the Air Force has a way to improve the odds.  Good question.
Paul