Apec Schools: The entourage

By Paul Oliver and Ruwani Perea

Ever wondered if the jet shown in the movie Air Force One was real? Does the United States presidential plane really have the escape pod, the luxurious interior, and the gun locker?

We may be about to find out, because the real-life plane will be bringing President Clinton to Auckland in less than two weeks.

The security surrounding Mr Clinton's arrival is intense.

He will be accompanied by 1200 support staff, more than any other leader visiting for Apec. An unknown number of special security agents will descend upon the city to make sure the President is safe 24 hours a day.

While we may not be able to have a look inside the President's special plane ourselves, we do know a little bit about it.

Yes, the decor is plush in the executive room, and it looks like a flying Oval Office. Mr Clinton can do his job handling world affairs at 30,000ft, and then relax watching films on a movie screen in another area.

Two kitchens on the plane can feed up to 100 people in one sitting, and there are medical facilities on board for surgeons to operate on the President if necessary. He will never have to search for a telephone either - there are 85. Unlike the movie, you cannot jump from Air Force One in a parachute, because the jet engines have such a strong slipstream you would get sucked into them.

And, for security reasons, there is no well-stocked gun locker near the press area. In fact, there are so many security agents around the media room that no one can leave unnoticed. Even the mechanics who work on the plane are in pairs, and they always know where the other one is.

The navigation computers on the plane are the best available, and there are infra-red devices to deter missile attacks.

But there is far more to Mr Clinton's arrival than just Air Force One. Up to four other planes will also touch down, carrying his baggage. One will bring his own fleet of limousines, and another will be full of journalists.

You will not bump into Mr Clinton at the hairdresser's, because he brings his own along with his personal surgeon. Every time he moves around Auckland he will be in a motorcade of more than eight cars. He is constantly surrounded by people, and cannot escape the spotlight.

Even if he could, he would not do it in an escape pod like Harrison Ford does in the movie. Apparently there isn't one, but then, with the amount of security around the President, they wouldn't tell us if there was, would they?

* Paul Oliver and Ruwani Perea are journalism students from the Auckland Institute of Technology.