Pope Francis left New York City to visit Philadelphia this morning (Saturday, Sept. 26) as hundreds of people waved him goodbye at John F. Kennedy Airport. He reached JFK airport by AIRFORCE ONE Helicopter that carried him from Wall Street Heliport in Manhattan.

The American Airlines flight arranged for Pope Francis is named SHEPHERD ONE.

Pope, who suffers from sciatica and a bad knee, stumbled slightly as he walked up the stairs into the waiting American Airlines flight around 9 a.m. He recovered himself quickly, with his routine-brief case in one hand. On reaching entry door of the flight, he turned back and waved to the crowd with his usual smiling face, but he was seen limping and suppressing his pain.

Before climbing the steps of SHEPERD ONE, Pope Francis met with nuns and Catholic leaders on the tarmac, where he was presented with white flowers to "represent the prayers of the people" and "the Blessed Mother". The nuns also gave him homemade Argentinian cookies called alfajores and told him, "this is to make you feel at home," to which he just smiled.

The US President flies on AIRFORCE ONE. The Pope flies on SHEPHERD ONE. “Shepherd One” is the Federal Aviation-approved call sign for the Boeing 777 in which Pope is traveling around the United States. The papal seal is affixed to the side of the aircraft, the only major modification that's done. However, the flight number will always be blocked as per a Secret Service request, so nobody can track its progress.

American Airlines has a long history of carrying the Pope during visits to the United States. This trip is the seventh time American Airlines has flown the Pope around the United States. The plane that carried Pope John Paul II in 1993 (a Boeing 767-300ER operated by American Airlines) is still in operation. It operates from Miami to Frankfurt, Germany, every Tuesday night.

Sisters from Monastery of Precious Blood, Brooklyn , New York , waiting on JFK tarmac to see Pope Francis. You can see the White Roses and Home-made Argentenian Cookies in their hands.

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