Unexpected Detour: Marine One Forced to Land

Sep 2, 2011 4:16pm

In a highly unusual maneuver, President Obama’s 30 minute flight to the Presidential mountain retreat at Camp David this afternoon was diverted to an undisclosed landing near Frederick, Maryland and a motorcade assembled to drive him to the nearby site. White House press secretary Jay Carney tells ABC News a “bad weather call” was made before the President and his younger daughter Sasha even boarded the aircraft.

Carney says they have now arrived safely at Camp David. It remains unexplained why the President would be allowed to board Marine One knowing that the landing site on the mountain was experiencing weather making a landing difficult.

The press first learned of the diversion when wire agency still photographers, who traditionally stand by at Camp David for news coverage in case of an emergency, were told by the military at the mountain top Marine base that the President would be motorcading.

The White House press office did not inform the daily travel pool which remains at the White House and does not make the helicopter trip to Camp David. The pool would normally accompany any bad weather motorcade to the retreat.

In Washington at the time Marine One took off, according to Accuweather.com, there was no precipitation across the entire region, including Camp David.

Light winds blew from the southeast at 10mph with mostly cloudy skies and temperatures in the middle 70′s.

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