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Margeinal or something below that, or anything that creates turbulence or a real disaster there, so you give yourself an added advantage of space and make sure there is nothing that is is complicated and the last thing you want to do is to have the first lady looking out the lady as you do s-turns on final trying to develop space when there isnt enough. >> so real quickly, when you see another plane out your window, we shouldnt worry, is that what you are saying? >> no. no, not at all. i would s...

And it is designed to be flexible so that the air can still be safe, even the separation is compromised. >> here in this case, warrington told andrews that it was five miles when it was really three miles. granted thats not all that close. but when you talk about the turbulence that can take place with the c-17, thats kicking up a lot of air. >> it does. it ceases when the c-17 is on the ground. and when the airplane is on the ground, especially an airplane of that size, it owns the runway and t...

Plane sped up. the separation was reduced. what pilots typically do is a series of s-turns and that will expand the time it takes for the aircraft to travel a straight line distance. they were trying to do that. they didnt have it so they went around. martha: but this kind of situation as trace gallagher pointed out, this is a similar situation to what happened in new york to taken airplane not long after september 11. it got caught in wake turbulence. i pick tight as being behind a big boat its...

Air traffic controllers who were handling the flights allowed the planes to get too close. the required distance is five miles. the planes were just three miles apart. >> if an airplane is too close behind another airplane, these small tornados that come off of the airplane in front can actually upset the airplane flying behind and cause the airplane flying behind to lose control. >> reporter: when faa controllers at andrews realized the planes were too close, they asked the first ladys pilot to...

Andrews air force base. air traffic controllers at the approach control facility in the washington, d.c. area were handling mrs. obamas plane. a boeing 737. code named executive one foxtrot. also in the skies, a giant c-17 military cargo plane. controllers apparently allowed the planes to get too close. the required separation is five miles apart but mrs. obamas plane flew within three mimes of the cargo plane. the distance is important. >> if an airplane is too close behind another airplane the...

The required distance is five miles. the two planes were just three miles apart. >> if an airplane is too close behind another airplane, these small tornados that come off the airplane in front can actually upset the airplane flying behind and cause the airplane flying behind to lose control. >> reporter: when faa controllers at andrews realized how close these two planes were, they asked the first ladys pilot to execute a series of s-turns. in order to slow down and build more distance between ...

Incredible amount of excitement, of course, as they broke through because they now have a clear passage, though its not a straight shaft from top to bottom it has some s-turns, ten-degree turns here and there. it goes down to the men. it broke through. theyre thrilled. families up here thrills. as i take you out a little bit wider and you take a look at all of at sthe assembled people her, those are not family members, those are reporters from around the world, 180 nations have dispatched journa...