United flight 55 “Executive One”

United Airlines DC-10 flight 55 “Executive One” – The most unusual Presidential aircraft!

On December 26, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon, Mrs. Nixon, their daughter Tricia and about twenty three White House staff and personnel, boarded United Airlines DC-10 flight 55 to fly from Washington D.C. to Los Angeles International Airport. They were traveling to spend the post-Christmas holiday at their home in San Clemente, known as the Western White House. While he was on board, the flight was known as “Executive One”.

The crew had not been told about their passengers until a half-hour before the flight. It was scheduled to leave at 5:30 P.M., but was delayed due to weather for an hour. At one point in the flight, President Nixon got up and went back to coach where he spent some time talking to some very astonished passengers. The DC-10 landed in Los Angeles at 10:58 P.M. Eastern time.

This all happened because the press had been giving President Nixon a hard time about the use of the Presidential aircraft during the 1973 gas shortage. Since the Untied flight had plenty of empty seats, the President’s group used no additional fuel to fly to LAX. The White House press corps, who usually flew in the back of Air Force One, were left behind in D.C.

In the end, one of the VC-137s had been flown out to California for security reasons anyway. President Nixon, having made his point, had all of them, the press corps included, flown back to D.C. The press never complained about the use of Air Force One again! this was the one and only flight of “Executive One”.