Statue of Liberty flyby startles New Yorkers

[Richard]

Our tax dollars at work. Not only did it cost us tax $$ - it cost us NYSE/AMEX/NASDQ $$, too.

Richard's $.02

Statue of Liberty flyby startles New Yorkers
Robert Gibbons and Ellen Freilichm, Reuters, 27 apr 2009

An Air Force fighter jet and one of President Barack Obama's official planes on Monday flew low over the Statue of Liberty in an approved photo opportunity that startled some New Yorkers who have memories of the September 11 attacks.

New York City officials notified some businesses but not all city agencies or the general public. People in New York remain sensitive to such incidents in lower Manhattan, site of the 2001 attacks involving hijacked airliners that destroyed the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.

Many people left their buildings, and stock prices extended losses at the time.

The U.S. Air Force, which operates the president's plane, said the "aerial photo mission" involved an F-16 fighter jet escort and one of the Boeing 747s designated as Air Force One when the president is aboard. Obama was not on board.

Police said federal authorities told them not to disclose the information ahead of time but to direct inquiries to the Federal Aviation Administration.

The FAA called it "an approved military photo op." The White House declined to comment.

"After our history with planes in lower Manhattan, you would think they would consider doing their exercises over the Potomac (in Washington) instead," said Peggy Lewis, who heard the planes from her Manhattan home.

The mid-morning flyover made traders jittery at the New York Mercantile Exchange, where they reported seeing the plane flying low over the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, banking, and repeating the pattern.

"We took it upon ourselves to leave the building. We asked police downstairs about it, and they said they didn't know anything. It could have caused some real panic," said Dominick Caglioti, an independent commodities trader who works next to the site where the Twin Towers formerly stood.

After the incident, the city released an advisory stating that the flyover was "part of an approved federal activity."

"We made the notifications to the city so they were aware that the flight would take place between 10 and 10:30 this morning," FAA spokesman Jim Peters said.

The World Financial Center across the street from the World Trade Center site did not call for an evacuation, although many tenants in the building decided to leave. A spokeswoman said tenants were told the flyover was authorized and that there was no reason to worry.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090427/..._newyork_plane

[JJ_BPK]

Originally Posted by Richard

Police said federal authorities told them not to disclose the information ahead of time but to direct inquiries to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Frik-n Idiots,
Talk about a complete lack of SA
^%(*^%%#(^%$*^((&*@)^&^)^@#%$%*@)&_@*%^)^%)&^)@$&) &#

[BryanK]

"in an approved photo opportunity"

Approved by who? Sad Sack? What moron would......oh, I forgot

[Defender968]

Originally Posted by Richard

"After our history with planes in lower Manhattan, you would think they would consider doing their exercises over the Potomac (in Washington) instead," said Peggy Lewis, who heard the planes from her Manhattan home.

Yea will someone please just go ahead and have the statue of liberty moved out into the Potomac, that way Peggy doesn’t have to be bothered by the jet noise for the Presidents photo op. This op only annoys me a little because we should all be trying to conserve money including the president and because I'm sure we don't have any pictures of AF 1 flying by the statue of liberty

I really hope they took her out of context, but as I’ve pretty much lost my faith in the intelligence of the general public, Peggy please, for the love of god find out the details first, then think, and then maybe just maybe open mouth, if you don't follow these simple steps you are likely to come across sounding like a complete moron. Just my .02

[Sigaba]

It seems that a variety of explanations were offered by different sources. At least one of these explanations described the fly over as a test.

Source is here.

"People came pouring out of the buildings, the American Express Building, all the buildings in the financial district by the water,” said Edward Acker, a photographer who was at the building, 3 World Financial Center. “And even the construction guys over by 100 North End Avenue area, they all got out of their buildings. Nobody knew about it. Finally some guy showed up with a little megaphone to tell everyone it was a test, but the people were not happy. The people who were here 9/11 were not happy.”

Also, the president wasn't exactly happy himself. (Eventually, to paraphrase Letterman, the president will use the same method to fire a member of his team that he used to select his team in the first place--a dart board.)

When President Obama learned of the episode on Monday afternoon, aides said, he, too, was furious. Senior administration officials conveyed the president’s anger in a meeting with Mr. Caldera on Monday afternoon.

Meanwhile, Robert Gibbs again demonstrated his mastery of his job.

Mr. Gibbs, pressed by reporters, said he had seen news reports of the flyover, but declared: “I was working on other things. You might be surprised to know that I don’t know every movement of Air Force One.” Later, he added that he would look into the matter.

My two cents are that those who live and work in NYC, especially if they were in the city on 9/11, have every right to be a tad alarmed. Several days after the attacks, I had a chilling conversation with my sister, who lives and works in NYC. Her refrain was: "We're fine...everything is fine...we're fine."

[Utah Bob]

What in God's name were they thinking??
I can imagine a 9/11 survivor looking up and seeing a low flying 747 apparently being chased by a fighter!
Just really stupid! I wonder where the buck will stop on this one.

[BMT (RIP)]

I did a quick check and it's look's like AF-1 has been up 25-30 times since 20JAN.
I know some were maintenance flifgt's and crew training.

BMT

[GreenSalsa]

"a photo op"?!

Why with the current "Green" culture of this President and administration, why didn't they just photo shop the plane over / by the Statue of Liberty? I wonder how many "tons of carbon" were used for this stunt...(sarcasm here folks).

Besides I guarantee there are plenty of AF1 shots with that landmark in the background, why the need for a "new" picture?

[cback0220]

I really doubt the President had any say in the matter, or anyone in his administration. The President does not own the planes the US Air Force does, if they decided to do a photo op it is on them. This has nothing to do with the President or his administration.

[Richard]

The USAF took a beating over this on the evening news last night - also reported that the POTUS called in the senior military liaison to the White House and the conversation was a heated one.

Richard's $.02

[The Reaper]

Originally Posted by cback0220

I really doubt the President had any say in the matter, or anyone in his administration. The President does not own the planes the US Air Force does, if they decided to do a photo op it is on them. This has nothing to do with the President or his administration.

Not exactly.

If the POTUS wanted new pics, he can task the AF to go get them.

It remains to be seen who actually created this requirement. So far, White House Military Office Director Louis Caldera looks like he is taking the heat as he apologized for any panic caused.

"Caldera said he approved the mission last week and that federal authorities took the proper steps to notify state and local authorities in New York and New Jersey."

Of course, he could be covering for someone else in this matter.

This means that the White House originated this request, not the AF.

TR

[Team Sergeant]

Originally Posted by GreenSalsa

"a photo op"?!

Why with the current "Green" culture of this President and administration, why didn't they just photo shop the plane over / by the Statue of Liberty? I wonder how many "tons of carbon" were used for this stunt...(sarcasm here folks).

Besides I guarantee there are plenty of AF1 shots with that landmark in the background, why the need for a "new" picture?

One thing I have learned about the Far Left, "Green" is something one "says" in front of cameras and it has nothing to do with what one actually "does".

[C0B2A]

Some one needs to introduce them to Photoshop. At some point in the planning and execution of this you would think at least some of the Aviators would think.. "wow this is a really dumb idea..."

[Utah Bob]

They needed a photo due to the new paint job.
First you buff off the old design.
Like This
Then you paint the new one on
Like This

This is true. I heard it from a guy who has a friend, and his sister knows an A2c who used to air up the tires on AF1.

[Saoirse]

Not only was the Air Force wrong but so was the local government who failed to notify EVERYONE...via the news, the newspaper, radio,even flyers in the mail, etc. All the alarm could have been prevented if the local authorities had just done something that makes so much sense! Good job, Mr. Bloomberg, you and your administration should be held accountable for this!!
I can honestly say, that if I still lived in NYC, I would have been scared as well. I was there for 9/11, my loss, like many others, was insurmountable. Seeing that jet flying overhead AGAIN, would have only served to relive that horror again. One man ran down 20 flights of stairs in a panic....now what if he had had a fatal heartattack from this run and from the extreme amount of fear he was probably feeling? Or in a panic stampede mode that humans have been known to do....people are trampled to death?
Fox News asked this morning "Are NYers overreacting, are they too sensitive? We want to hear your opinion".

<shaking my head in disbelief>