JANET Flights in Las Vegas...a question

[greenmartian2017]

I thought I would ask this question about the JANET flights in Las Vegas....

Is there any literature that talks to actually being on board one of the JANET jets? What is it like? What about the windows? Can you look out of them? Or are they blacked out? etc.

If anyone knows of some URL links, please let me know, and post them here. (I hope that this topic is in the correct thread.)

 

[Whisperstream]

The JANET flights follow standard operating procedures comparable to most commercial airlines, but with enhanced focus on security. The windows are not blacked out, and the window shades function normally. Prior to takeoff the lead flight attendant gives the passengers a standard safety briefing regarding seatbelts, emergency exits, etc. Under normal circumstances, the flight attendant would announce:

"We have no visitors on board, therefore window shades may remain open."

In the event that uncleared visitors are on board, the flight attendant takes note of where they are seated. For the sake of the following example, let's pretend that a couple of special guests have been seated in row 11. In that case the flight attendant would announce:

"We have visitors on board, therefore shades must remain closed from Row 10 to Row 12."

Upon landing at the test site, the flight attendant would announce:

"At this time, please check to see that your badges are visible. Visitors or unbadged personnel, please remain seated until the security guard is able to release you."

 

[stealthrunner]

Very accurate Whisperstream!

 

[antigravite]

Hi.

This should be of interest.

Unmarked Planes & Hidden Geographies : Trevor Paglen

A.

 

[greenmartian2017]

The JANET flights follow standard operating procedures comparable to most commercial airlines, but with enhanced focus on security. The windows are not blacked out, and the window shades function normally. Prior to takeoff the lead flight attendant gives the passengers a standard safety briefing regarding seatbelts, emergency exits, etc. Under normal circumstances, the flight attendant would announce:

"We have no visitors on board, therefore window shades may remain open."

In the event that uncleared visitors are on board, the flight attendant takes note of where they are seated. For the sake of the following example, let's pretend that a couple of special guests have been seated in row 11. In that case the flight attendant would announce:

"We have visitors on board, therefore shades must remain closed from Row 10 to Row 12."

Upon landing at the test site, the flight attendant would announce:

"At this time, please check to see that your badges are visible. Visitors or unbadged personnel, please remain seated until the security guard is able to release you."

Whisperstream, how far back do these protocols that you describe go? I have talked with a person who had business inside the Area 51 region, and flew about three times there. They told me that the windows had a self-adhesive film applied to them. This was in the 1980s/early 1990s.

 

[quellish]

The JANET flights follow standard operating procedures comparable to most commercial airlines, but with enhanced focus on security. The windows are not blacked out, and the window shades function normally. Prior to takeoff the lead flight attendant gives the passengers a standard safety briefing regarding seatbelts, emergency exits, etc. Under normal circumstances, the flight attendant would announce:

"We have no visitors on board, therefore window shades may remain open."

In the event that uncleared visitors are on board, the flight attendant takes note of where they are seated. For the sake of the following example, let's pretend that a couple of special guests have been seated in row 11. In that case the flight attendant would announce:

"We have visitors on board, therefore shades must remain closed from Row 10 to Row 12."

Upon landing at the test site, the flight attendant would announce:

"At this time, please check to see that your badges are visible. Visitors or unbadged personnel, please remain seated until the security guard is able to release you."

Whisperstream, how far back do these protocols that you describe go? I have talked with a person who had business inside the Area 51 region, and flew about three times there. They told me that the windows had a self-adhesive film applied to them. This was in the 1980s/early 1990s.

IIRC during that time period the flights were operated by Key Air, not Janet / EGG. The transition to the Janet service was in like 94

 

[Whisperstream]

The JANET flights follow standard operating procedures comparable to most commercial airlines, but with enhanced focus on security. The windows are not blacked out, and the window shades function normally. Prior to takeoff the lead flight attendant gives the passengers a standard safety briefing regarding seatbelts, emergency exits, etc. Under normal circumstances, the flight attendant would announce:

"We have no visitors on board, therefore window shades may remain open."

In the event that uncleared visitors are on board, the flight attendant takes note of where they are seated. For the sake of the following example, let's pretend that a couple of special guests have been seated in row 11. In that case the flight attendant would announce:

"We have visitors on board, therefore shades must remain closed from Row 10 to Row 12."

Upon landing at the test site, the flight attendant would announce:

"At this time, please check to see that your badges are visible. Visitors or unbadged personnel, please remain seated until the security guard is able to release you."

Whisperstream, how far back do these protocols that you describe go? I have talked with a person who had business inside the Area 51 region, and flew about three times there. They told me that the windows had a self-adhesive film applied to them. This was in the 1980s/early 1990s.

IIRC during that time period the flights were operated by Key Air, not Janet / EGG. The transition to the Janet service was in like 94

I was referencing EG&G Airlift standard operating procedures from the mid 1980s. Not sure why they would bother with self-adhesive film coatings when they had perfectly serviceable window shades, but I can't say that never happened.

EG&G Special Projects (and, for a while, Lockheed Aircraft Service Company) provided flights to Groom, Tonopah, and other places. The Key Air flights were strictly Nellis to TTR to support the 4450th Tactical Group. I seem to recall that ATA eventually picked up that contract but I don't know the details.

 

[greenmartian2017]

Thanks quellish and Whisperstream

 

[RavenOne]

I thought I would ask this question about the JANET flights in Las Vegas....

Is there any literature that talks to actually being on board one of the JANET jets? What is it like? What about the windows? Can you look out of them? Or are they blacked out? etc.

If anyone knows of some URL links, please let me know, and post them here. (I hope that this topic is in the correct thread.)

Dont forget the other year when they were recruiting for cabin crew / flight attendants so some of the answers to your questions be found in the below.

The secret airline run by the US government is hiring — and to get the job, you have to share your drinking habits, sexual behavior, and mental health

Forget secret agent — if you want one of the most exclusive, top-secret jobs about there, consider becoming a flight attendant.

www.businessinsider.com

JANET, America’s Most Secret Airline, Is Hiring

Area 51 airline is hiring. Janet airline is the name of a small fleet of passenger aircraft that serve the famous Area 51, the U.S. Air Force top-secret

theaviationist.com

cheers

 

[royabulgaf]

"Coffee, tea, or cyanide capsule?"

 

[Hydroman]

"Coffee, tea, or cyanide capsule?"

or the cheapest Vegas buffet, worse than cyanide?

 

[Archibald]

Red pill ? MIB red flash ? Zafiro Anejo with ricin ?

 

[Whisperstream]

Or you could just read pages 327 to 339 of Dreamland: The Secret History of Area 51 (Schiffer Military, 2023). It's got a pretty detailed description of the Janet operation, based on interviews and documents. The Janet fleet history was a lot more complex than I once believed.

 

[Photoflier]

Everyone call it JANET, because that’s the way they hear it when their call sign goes out over the air.
The name actually comes from the initials of the Joint Amy/Navy/Intelligence Transport (JANIT) group set up to get people in an out of the Tonopah Test Range when Lockheed was first involved in the U-2 Project at Groom Lake.

 

[publiusr]

There are also buses that run into Groom Lake last I heard.

This may be the one instance where folks getting on and off a plane get less (immediate) scrutiny than land transportation that ambles up to a base--because you don't know what that vehicle making a dust cloud as it approaches is (if no radio.)

You get on a JANET and you're good to go I imagine. I would think deplaning less a hassle--boarding to leave even less so?

If you are just *leaving* Area 51, just hop on.

I guess they could search you for Minox cam--I mean thumb-drives

 

[Desert Watchdog]

IIRC the 1980 737-200s started via Lockheed, under a program name of "Eclipse". There were three 732s to start. Their names being "Innovation", "Excalibur" & "Shillelagh". All from former Western Airlines ac, in the pac 121 configuration. They eventually were moved into the other three under EG&G via a new contract.

 

[Desert Watchdog]

One from the EG&G 732 days.

 

[Whisperstream]

Everyone call it JANET, because that’s the way they hear it when their call sign goes out over the air.
The name actually comes from the initials of the Joint Amy/Navy/Intelligence Transport (JANIT) group set up to get people in an out of the Tonopah Test Range when Lockheed was first involved in the U-2 Project at Groom Lake.

That's complete BS. The call sign JANET derives from Janet Sampson, the wife of former Area 51 commander Dick Sampson. He named it after her. It's not an acronym, misheard or otherwise. The original commuter fleet in the mid 1950s was provided by the USAF Military Air Transport Service, supplemented by Lockheed's DC-3. In the 1960s, Lockheed operated three Super Constellation aircraft, collectively nicknamed the "White Whale." Carco Air Services was contracted to serve Area 51for a time in the late 1960s and early 1970s. EG&G began providing commuter service with a couple of DC-6B aircraft in the early 1970s and replaced them with 737s in the early 1980s. That fleet was officially called Airlift. At the same time, Lockheed also began providing contract commuter service with its own 737 fleet under the name Eclipse. Eventually, EG&G took over the entire contract and Airlift has since passed through a number of corporate ownership changes (URS, AECOM, Amentum). You can read the history in much greater detail in Dreamland: The Secret History of Area 51 (Schiffer Military, 2023).

 

[publiusr]

So, what are boarding proceedures like in all truth?

You have been vetted seven different ways to Sunday to work there, so I wouldn't suspect TSA nonsense.

 

[Scott Kenny]

So, what are boarding proceedures like in all truth?

You have been vetted seven different ways to Sunday to work there, so I wouldn't suspect TSA nonsense.

JANET apparently boards from the Busjet side of the airport, not the standard passenger terminal. So there's no TSA screening to deal with.