NSC Evacuation Plane (Designated Evacuation Aircraft — Airborne Command/Evac Transport)
Detailed Involvements
Events with rich location context
The evacuation plane is referenced in the evacuation-card instructions as one of the prioritized escape options for some officials; it acts as a practical emblem of who is saved and who is left behind, intensifying Josh's sense of institutional hierarchy and exclusion.
Cold, utilitarian, and procedural as an implied refuge contrasted with human warmth elsewhere.
Illustrative evacuation destination that concretely represents institutional triage.
Embodies separation: a physical vehicle of survival for selected officials.
Implied restricted access to prioritized personnel.
The evacuation plane, named on the N.S.C. card, is invoked as the mobile refuge for prioritized officials and juxtaposed against the vast population left behind; it is an emblem of institutional extraction.
Implied as cold, orderly, and exclusionary.
Evacuation destination referenced to demonstrate who is moved to safety.
Represents mobility and selective salvation in a crisis.
Access limited to those listed on official evacuation paperwork (implied).
The NSC Evacuation Plane is mentioned as a near-future location — Bartlet will call Hoynes "from the plane" — turning the plane into an imminent locus of continuity and a stage for further confrontation after the immediate compromise.
Only evoked: procedural and tense, a space of transit and pressured decision-making.
Future action point for a direct presidential confrontation with Hoynes and continuity-of-command movement.
Represents escape/continuity but also the isolation of leadership and the distance between private anger and public duty.
Highly restricted; staffed and controlled for senior officials only when activated.
The NSC Evacuation Plane is referenced as Bartlet's immediate transit point and where he intends to place the next call to Hoynes; it functions as the narrative signifier of continuity-of-command and the president's mobility, tying the private decision to broader operational realities.
Implied as a cramped, procedural space of transit and continuity — the plane is a mobile command post where hard decisions are implemented.
Transit/communication location where follow-up actions (a call to Hoynes) will be executed; symbolizes continuity after the decision.
Represents institutional continuity and the isolation of presidential duty.
Highly restricted; only senior staff and authorized personnel have access.
The NSC Evacuation Plane is referenced by Bartlet as context for his fatigue — he mentions sleeplessness and keeping staff awake on an early‑morning flight. The plane is not present but functions narratively to explain his weariness and the continuity pressures weighing on him.
Not physically present; invoked atmosphere is mechanical, cramped, and sleep‑deprived.
Contextual location that explains the President's exhaustion and operational burdens.
Symbolizes the relentless, mobile obligations of the presidency and the cost of constant readiness.
N/A within the scene (referenced only).
Events at This Location
Everything that happens here
Late at night Josh sits with Schubert's 'Ave Maria,' lost in a private panic. C.J. barges in with wine and a blunt, human remedy — chili and company — after …
Alone in his office with Schubert's 'Ave Maria' playing, Josh confronts a concrete symbol of institutional panic: an N.S.C. evacuation card handed to him but not to others. C.J. tries …
In a private, late-night phone exchange, Bartlet erupts at Leo over Vice President Hoynes's maneuvering, threatening he can ask for Hoynes's resignation. Leo delivers a cold political correction — the …
In a private room during a grueling fundraiser night, Leo quietly delivers the blow: Hoynes was right about the ethanol tax credit and the White House misread the vote. Sam …
In a tense, late-night confrontation in the study, President Bartlet refuses donor Ted Marcus's demand that he publicly threaten a veto on an anti-gay bill as a symbolic gesture. Bartlet …