[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