Page "University of Illinois Willard Airport" Paragraph 2

On January 28, 1998, President Bill Clinton was in Champaign-Urbana for a speaking engagement at Assembly Hall and arrived at Willard Airport on Air Force One.

Due to the breaking story, news media descended on Champaign-Urbana.

After the engagement, just prior to takeoff, the Boeing 707 acting as Air Force One got stuck in the mud, the taxiway not being designed for aircraft as wide as the Boeing 707.

After about an hour of being stuck, a backup Air Force One descended upon Willard Airport.

The backup was SAM26000, which was the same 707 that took John Kennedy to Dallas.

The trip on SAM26000 marked the last time it carried a sitting president.

Several months later it was retired to the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson.

Many news broadcasts that evening carried live video feed of the Presidential aircraft stuck at Willard Airport.