Air Force One is the official air traffic control designated call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the president of the United States. In common parlance, the term is used to denote U.S. Air Force aircraft modified and used to transport the president and a metonym for the primary presidential aircraft, VC-25, although it can be used to refer to any Air Force aircraft the president travels on.

The idea of designating specific military aircraft to transport the president arose during World War II when military advisors in the War Department were concerned about the risk of using commercial airlines for presidential travel. A C-54 Skymaster was then converted for presidential use; dubbed the Sacred Cow, it carried President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the Yalta Conference in February 1945 and was used for another two years by President Harry S. Truman.

The "Air Force One" call sign was created in 1953, after a Lockheed Constellation carrying President Dwight D. Eisenhower entered the same airspace as a commercial airline flight using the same flight number. Since the introduction of SAM 26000 in 1962, the primary presidential aircraft has carried the distinctive livery designed by Raymond Loewy.

Other aircraft designated as Air Force One have included another Lockheed Constellation, Columbine III, three Boeing 707s, introduced in the 1960s and 1970s, and the current Boeing VC-25As. Since 1990, the presidential fleet has consisted of two highly customized Boeing 747-200B (VC-25A) aircraft. The USAF has ordered two Boeing 747-8s to serve as the next presidential aircraft, with designation VC-25B.

Katherine McNamara is having a rough first day at the office in this presidential plane latest thriller, Air Force One Is Down. She is featured opposite Anthony Michael Hall and Ian Bohen in Paramount’s upcoming high-octane thriller.

Directed by James Bamford, the feature takes audiences miles off the ground as the President’s private aircraft has been overtaken by terrorists with just a few Secret Service agents standing in the way of a complete disaster.

The top draft pick to join the Secret Service, Allison Miles (McNamara) is head-hunted by recruiting Agent, Sam Waitman (Hall) after it’s clear that she has what it takes to join the most elite team of bodyguards in the world.

When another Agent calls out for the day, Agent Miles is thrown directly into the mission of ensuring the President of the United States (Bohen) has an easy and breezy trip aboard Air Force One to attend a global meeting about an energy deal.

After the craft is taken over by terrorists, Agent Miles’s skills are put to the test as she and her teammates are forced to work as a unit to bring down the baddies and safely ground the plane, all while making it on time to the world leader’s summit.