Obama touches down

‘Air Force One’, the US Air Force Boeing VC-25 carrying US President Barrack Obama, touched down at Canberra Airport this afternoon shortly after 3pm, at the start of the president’s brief Australian visit.

The VC-25 (a development of the 747-200 airliner) was preceded by two USAF C-17 and one C-5 flights carrying the president’s motorcade vehicles, support equipment, and a Black Hawk helicopter, and was followed about two hours later by a USAF VC-32. A chartered Delta Air Lines 767-300 has also flown in American media representatives.

Meanwhile, RAAF F/A-18 Hornets are flying combat air patrols over Canberra for the duration of Obama’s visit.