The approach I would have taken is to check the EXIF data in the photo to see what time it was taken. You could then look at historical records or news records to see about when the President left or landed at that airport on that day. If the time is closer to when he left its a take off, if it is before it is a landing.
I was thinking this too, but was guessing that there are databases of all flights in the US - I know there are those flight tracker websites out there and someone is probably recording that data.
Edit: the person asking the question rejected a request for the EXIF data in a comment. Seems to want to limit the puzzle to direct analysis of the plane.
