‘Pay Attention’: Fort Lauderdale Spirit Airlines flight gets close to Air Force One

A Spirit Airlines flight from Fort Lauderdale to Boston almost got a little too cozy with the president’s plane on Tuesday.

The tense moments as Spirit flight 1300 approached Air Force One can be heard in audio obtained from a website that streams Air Traffic Control communications and shared on social media.

“Pay attention Spirit 1300, turn 20 degrees right. Spirit 1300, turn 20 degrees right now. Spirit wings 1300 turn 20 degrees right immediately,” an air traffic controller is heard saying at increasing volume in a recording of the interaction.

“Traffic’s off your left wing by six, er eight miles 747, I’m sure you can see who it is,” the controller is heard saying. “Pay attention, get off the iPad.”

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump were on board Air Force One heading to London Tuesday morning for his state visit to Windsor castle this week. They landed safely at Stansted Airport around 9 p.m. that evening.

A Spirit spokesperson told the Miami Herald that Spirit Airlines flight 1300 “followed procedures” and instructions from Air Traffic Control before landing uneventfully at Boston Logan International Airport. “Safety is always our top priority.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request comment about the flight.

The Federal Aviation Administration said it was “aware of social media posts about Air Force One and a Spirit Airlines flight in Boston airspace” on Tuesday. “Required separation was maintained between the aircraft.”

The audio of the air traffic controller was obtained from LiveATC.net by flight trackers on social media using the accounts JonNYC and Thenewarea51.