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This undated US Air Force image shows the 747-E4B Nightwatch, nicknamed the “Doomsday Plane”. (Photo by US Air Force)
HOUGHTON (Reuters) – The Boeing 747-E4B Nightwatch that has circled the Keweenaw Peninsula since Tuesday morning is not a safety concern, the North American Aerospace Defense Command has said.
The Nightwatch, a US Air Force aircraft dubbed the “Doomsday Plane,” circled the Keweenaw Peninsula since approximately 2:45 p.m. Tuesday. The aircraft traveled at approximately 430 knots (494 mph) at 25,000 feet for five hours over the Keweenaw. It broke away from the holding pattern and flew east at approximately 6:45 p.m.
The plane repeatedly circled in an extended northwest-to-southeast holding pattern, about 40 miles north of the Porcupine Mountains, traveling as far east as Big Bay, north of Marquette.
The aircraft is an asset of the American strategic command. The US Strategic Command could not be reached for comment.
The plane based at Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha, Neb., Took off from Lincoln, Neb., At 1:30 p.m. EDT, and flew over Duluth and then toward the Keweenaw Peninsula, according to data from the tracking site. flights flightradar24. com.
The Nightwatch is described by the US Air Force as a Boeing 747-200B modified for the National Emergency Airborne Command Post. It is designed to transport the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff during a nuclear attack. An E-4B in the air is noted as a national airborne operations center.
The aircraft is designed to survive an electromagnetic pulse and uses traditional analog flight instruments as they are less vulnerable to an EMP explosion.
The aircraft is capable of operating with a crew of up to 112 people, including flight and mission personnel. There are at least 48 crew members aboard an E-4B mission.
The aircraft contains a conference room, a projection room for infographics and transparencies, and can deploy and tow a five-mile-long cable to communicate with nuclear submarines.
With in-flight refueling, the aircraft is able to stay in flight, with a test flight lasting 35 hours. The aircraft was designed to stay aloft for an entire week in an emergency.
The E-4B fleet consists of four planes costing $ 250 million each. It costs about $ 160,000 per hour for the Air Force to operate.
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