Trump’s ‘Doomsday plane’ that could mean you only have five minutes left spotted moving amid tensions

The so-called 'Doomsday plane' which is supposed to serve as an emergency command centre in the event of things going catastrophically wrong has been spotted on the move towards Washington DC.

This is the Boeing E-4B 'Nightwatch' plane, of which the US has four at its disposal so there's always at least one available.

It's meant to be a place for the US president, currently Donald Trump, and military officials to operate from in the event of a nuclear war or some other dangerous catastrophe.

As the US Air Force puts it: "In case of national emergency or destruction of ground command and control centers, the aircraft provides a highly survivable command, control and communications center to direct U.S. forces, execute emergency war orders, and coordinate actions by civil authorities."

Flight tracking sites have seen one of these things heading for Washington, with it being shown to depart from Omaha, Nebraska on Tuesday (6 January), before landing at Camp Springs near Washington DC.

The US has four Nightwatch planes which can serve as mobile command centres (C. v. Grinsven/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

It was also seen landing at Los Angeles International Airport yesterday, the reason for these flights is unknown, the fleet of four are moved around for any number of issues.

One of the main reasons why this plane might have been in the air is to ensure its onboard crew stay sharp, there's no point in having a 'Doomsday plane' if the people crewing it never fly in it except for emergencies.

The aircraft have gained something of a reputation for being a scary omen because of their purpose in the worst case scenario, a situation where if you saw it flying overhead you'd only have about five minutes to live.

The plane's controls are analogue so they can't be interfered with by hackers (National Airborne Operations Center)

At time of writing these planes have been flying around without the cause being a global thermonuclear war, which is fortunate for those of us who wish to remain alive and not irradiated.

The 'Nightwatch' is designed to operate as a mobile war room for the US president and it can stay off the ground for a week due to its ability to refuel in mid-air.

These planes are flown around to keep crews fresh, but the worst case scenario to see one is nuclear war (Airline Videos/YouTube)

It's the most expensive plane to fly, costing $159,529 (£126,000) per hour to operate while it is rigged with a bunch of defence systems designed to protect it against electromagnetic attack, while the controls are analogue so the steering can't be hijacked by a cyber attack.

The fleet of planes are typically based at US Strategic Command, located south of Omaha, and one of them is on high alert at all times to ensure it's prepped and ready to go should the worst happen.

Again, there's no point in having a plane like this if you end up caught short far away from it.

There's definitely been a lot of crises going on involving the US at the moment as they recently abducted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife as Trump has said America is going to 'run' the other country in the interim.

The plane is designed to be a command centre which can operate in the skies for a week without landing (National Airborne Operations Center)

Aggressive rhetoric from the US towards places like Greenland has also been ramped up, with an attempt to take it potentially being the death blow for the NATO alliance.

Further afield the US seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker which Moscow has called an act of 'outright piracy', while on home soil an ICE agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good while she was driving her car, and claims from Trump it was done in self defence were denounced as 'bulls**t' by Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.