The Berlin Airlift At the peak of the Berlin airlift in 1948, U.S. or British planes landed every three minutes twenty-four hours a day. These children, on top of a mountain of wartime rubble, may have been watching for Air Force pilot Gail S. Halvorsen, who, after meeting hungry schoolchildren, began to drop candy and gum as his plane approached the landing strip. Picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images.