Why is there a big red coaster on the White House lawn?
WASHINGTON - After making a turn at the Washington Monument, Marine One approaches the South Lawn of the White House. But how does it know precisely where to land?
"X" marks the spot. Actually, three spots, to be exact.
Enormous red coasters bearing an "X" are rolled onto the South Lawn before every Marine One landing to show the pilot exactly where to set down.
The markers also serve to keep the helicopter wheels from sinking into the ground when it's wet and muddy.
Some of the White House press got to see the rollout of the markers Thursday, when President Obama returned ahead of schedule from his two-day trip to Idaho and Kansas on behalf of his State of the Union agenda.
The staffers who serve as the White House air traffic controllers and give Marine One permission to take off and land, hastily rolled out the markers to preset locations and also positioned a long yellow stripe that shows the pilots the direction their Sikorsky VH-3D helicopter should be facing.
A CBS News tally shows that since taking office, Mr. Obama has taken 1,078 flights on Marine One. Nearly every other flight is a takeoff from or landing at the White House -- and those "X" marks-the-spot coasters.
