A Rare Behind The Scenes Look At One Of America's Most Valued National Security Assets. Not a weapon...but a vehicle. SECRET ACCESS: AIR FORCE ONE

A special presentation on History
Premieres Friday, August 29 at 8pm ET/PT

It's part of history, a powerful symbol of the American Presidency, yet most people will never step foot in the interior of Air Force One - the famous jet that has been flying American presidents and their staff for the past five decades. The one-hour special, SECRET ACCESS: AIR FORCE ONE, premiering Friday, August 29 at 8pm ET/PT on History, takes viewers where only the most elite insiders from the highest levels of the US government are ever allowed - on board the president's plane.

Step inside the high-security domain of the Presidential Airlift Group, the top flight Air Force team in charge of operating the current presidential plane, a military Boeing 747 jumbo jet, standing six stories high - 230 feet long, longer than the White House itself. SECRET ACCESS: AIR FORCE ONE goes under the skin of this uniquely modified plane, to discover what makes the president's jet faster, more secure, more comfortable and more capable than any other comparable plane. With all the features of the Oval Office, the "flying White House" is unlike any other plane on Earth - with one exception: her twin. The Air Force operates not one, but two presidential jumbo jets on every overseas mission - the primary and an identical twin aircraft, serving as a back-up.

SECRET ACCESS: AIR FORCE ONE joins Presidential Airlift Group pilot Colonel Mark Tillman, crew and privileged passengers of Air Force One with exclusive access as they prepare for and fly one of the plane's recent challenging missions - President George W. Bush's 20,000-mile odyssey through the heart of Africa in 2008. With every trip classified as an official military mission, the Presidential Airlift Group runs a "zero-fail" operation - 100 percent perfection every time. And that means every aspect of security and support at six different airports across central Africa must be upgraded to the highest standards.

Armored limousines and presidential helicopters must be airlifted in, and staged in advance, at every single stop on the president's route. Even the aviation fuel supply must be tested, and locked down by US government agents. When you transport the most powerful man in the world, no detail can go overlooked.
SECRET ACCESS: AIR FORCE ONE is produced for History by Partisan Pictures. Executive Producer for History is Charles Nordlander. Producer and filmmaker for Partisan is Peter Schnall.