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Wall Street Throwing More Money at Republicans
More Bald Eagles Spotted In Harlem!
Earlier this morning we got a concerned email about a commercial-size jet flying uncomfortably low over Lower Manhattan, where buildings were being evacuated. Another tipster at 2WFC said announcements in that building declared "there’s no emergency and that we all need to stay inside." Soon after word came out that it was just Air Force One, keeping New Yorkers on their toes! From the newswire: "AUTHORIZED FLY-OVER OF THE STATUE OF LIBERTY BY AIR FORCE ONE FOR A PHOTO SHOOT. THE PRESIDENT WAS *NOT* ON BOARD."
The Staten Island Advance has a photograph (the first one was allegedly posted on Twitter) and the Wall Street Journal is now reporting that "Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Jim Peters said the Defense Department is conducting a photo op that involves deploying two F-16s and escorting a Boeing 747 in the vicinity of Lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty. Mr. Peters says the maneuver was not an emergency and was coordinated in advance with the FAA and state and local officials." No word on why civilians weren't pre-warned about this.
The Commander in Chief's Boeing 747 is called Air Force One when he is on board. The National Geographic Channel had a show about the plane and even has links for you to download PDFs to make paper Air Force One planes. After the jump, a video from National Geographic's trip on the 747 with soon-to-be-President Barack Obama, heading to the Inauguration from Chicago.
UPDATE: The WSJ has some video here.
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AMERICA, FUCK YEAH!
I
I guess technically it wasn't "Air Force One" as it did not contain the president. I think any plane that is carrying the president at a given time is "Air Force One". At least that is what I think I remember hearing on a documentary... or it could have been a cheap movie. So who knows.
Yes, this is what I was told when I toured the White House in 1999.
"Air Force One" isn't the name of a single airplane. It's the call sign of any USAF aircraft which has the President on board at the time. If the President was not on the aircraft it can't actually be called "Air Force One."
</pedanticbastard>
with the exception of helicopters which are then called Marine One.
The helicopters the President flies in aren't operated by the Air Force. They're operated by the Marines. Hence the designation Marine One vs. Air Force One.
My guess is that if he's in an army helicopter, it would be Army One. And if he's in a Navy jet, it would be Navy One. Although I'm not 100% sure about that.
This is correct. When Bush landed on the aircraft carrier, it was in Navy One (for the first and currently only time). The Marines didn't always operate the presidential choppers, and Army One was used for those craft.
gotchya!
Curses! Out-pedanted again!
It's all well and good that it's just Air Force One, but if I worked in a building down there, esp one of the WFC buildings, and an announcement came over the P.A. system saying "there’s no emergency and that we all need to stay inside.", i'd leave the building immediately. We all remember how far that got the people who listened to "security's" same announcement on 9/11.
those wacky local officials and their lack of concern for the public's inclination towards mass hysteria. oh, you guys and your shenanigans.
Real smart thinking there assholes.
If they were going to do a photo shoot or any other kind of flyover then they should have told people they were going to have one.
What does Bruno from OEM have to say about this? Or didn't they tell him?
ahuh huh huh huh you said 'Boening'
I have to think this is some other kind of drill, not a photo shoot. You don't use a 747 to shoot photos, and you could easily photoshop AF1 in front of/above the Statue, if that's what you really wanted a shot of.
"No word on why civilians weren't pre-warned about this."
Total bullshit. Just about had a heart attack when it flew right over Jersey City with a fighter jet on it's tail... TWICE. They couldn't let us know they were doing a "photoshoot" for christ's sake???
I was down in Battery Park for a meeting when it flew over the first time around 9:45 or so. The plane was really low, probably at 2-3k feet. The fact that a fighter jet was trailing it also made it more worrisome. Everyone down there started freaking out and many people called 911. It was really dumb of the federal or local officials not to give advance notice of this.
No word on why civilians weren't pre-warned about this.
because it's a presidential plane, for security, whether the president is on board or not, the disclosure of his personal or his transport is never made public.
right, but the 'low flying jet liners' thing is still a touchy subject for real new yorkers.
someone somewhere should be feeling guilty for making hundreds of thousands of people uneasy this morning.
as opposed to fake new yorkers? how about anyone in new york that either was here on 9/11 or is sensitive to low flying aircraft. i'm 100% real. :) regardless there's no way to communicate tp the public that any of the presidential planes or helicopters are in the vicinity. i agree that it was cruel, but the rules of national security don't change because our feelings get hurt.
It's beyond a 'feelings get hurt' question - this is a risk to our public safety, because low flying jets over Lower Manhattan can cause a panic!
As for "national security" - come on!
Isn't New York City's "national security" important?
That reasoning might play anywhere else in the world but here. New York is kind of a unique situation. You would think they'd know that.
Not only was the President not on board, but they had armed fighter planes with them. Security risk was extremely low and not telling the public was foolish.
Oh, and I'd be the first one out of any building that had a PA announcement mentioning an airplane.
Chalk up another win for DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano, who is having her worst week since last week.
As for presidential security, it's not like the White House doesn't have a daily briefing of the President's activities.
Haven't they ever heard of PhotoShop?
word. how many $100k/hour to run the heavy and two fighters around for a photo shoot?
Fuck Photoshop. That would be cheesy.
My entire office building was evacuated, and I have to say it was quite disturbing! All this trouble could have been avoided if they had bothered to notify the public. This was wasted time and pointless cause for upset!!!
Got this email a little while ago from the NYC alert system:
From: NotifyNYC
Date: Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 10:37 AM
Subject: Planes over Lower Manhattan
To: [blocked out by me]
Planes observed flying over Lower Manhattan were part of an approved federal activity.
The sender provided the following contact information.
Sender's Name: NotifyNYC
Sender's Email: info@nyc.gov
Got this email a little while ago from the NYC alert system:
From: NotifyNYC
Date: Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 10:37 AM
Subject: Planes over Lower Manhattan
To: [blocked out by me]
Planes observed flying over Lower Manhattan were part of an approved federal activity.
The sender provided the following contact information.
Sender's Name: NotifyNYC
Sender's Email: info@nyc.gov
Got this email a little while ago from the NYC alert system:
From: NotifyNYC
Date: Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 10:37 AM
Subject: Planes over Lower Manhattan
To: [blocked out by me]
Planes observed flying over Lower Manhattan were part of an approved federal activity.
The sender provided the following contact information.
Sender's Name: NotifyNYC
Sender's Email: info@nyc.gov
Got this email a little while ago from the NYC alert system:
From: NotifyNYC
Date: Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 10:37 AM
Subject: Planes over Lower Manhattan
To: [blocked out by me]
Planes observed flying over Lower Manhattan were part of an approved federal activity.
The sender provided the following contact information.
Sender's Name: NotifyNYC
Sender's Email: info@nyc.gov
Got this email a little while ago from the NYC alert system:
From: NotifyNYC
Date: Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 10:37 AM
Subject: Planes over Lower Manhattan
To: [blocked out by me]
Planes observed flying over Lower Manhattan were part of an approved federal activity.
The sender provided the following contact information.
Sender's Name: NotifyNYC
Sender's Email: info@nyc.gov
Got this email a little while ago from the NYC alert system:
From: NotifyNYC
Date: Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 10:37 AM
Subject: Planes over Lower Manhattan
To: [blocked out by me]
Planes observed flying over Lower Manhattan were part of an approved federal activity.
The sender provided the following contact information.
Sender's Name: NotifyNYC
Sender's Email: info@nyc.gov
Got this email a little while ago from the NYC alert system:
From: NotifyNYC
Date: Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 10:37 AM
Subject: Planes over Lower Manhattan
To: [blocked out by me]
Planes observed flying over Lower Manhattan were part of an approved federal activity.
The sender provided the following contact information.
Sender's Name: NotifyNYC
Sender's Email: info@nyc.gov
Got this email a little while ago from the NYC alert system:
From: NotifyNYC
Date: Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 10:37 AM
Subject: Planes over Lower Manhattan
To: [blocked out by me]
Planes observed flying over Lower Manhattan were part of an approved federal activity.
The sender provided the following contact information.
Sender's Name: NotifyNYC
Sender's Email: info@nyc.gov
Got this email a little while ago from the NYC alert system:
From: NotifyNYC
Date: Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 10:37 AM
Subject: Planes over Lower Manhattan
To: [blocked out by me]
Planes observed flying over Lower Manhattan were part of an approved federal activity.
The sender provided the following contact information.
Sender's Name: NotifyNYC
Sender's Email: info@nyc.gov
Got this email a little while ago from the NYC alert system:
From: NotifyNYC
Date: Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 10:37 AM
Subject: Planes over Lower Manhattan
To: [blocked out by me]
Planes observed flying over Lower Manhattan were part of an approved federal activity.
The sender provided the following contact information.
Sender's Name: NotifyNYC
Sender's Email: info@nyc.gov
WTF man?
Dude, we get the point...
Seriously STFU you blowjob
Go here to register for NotifyNYC alerts/emails http://tinyurl.com/6z2fpu
You got an email? What'd it say?
We get it, you got an email.
;)
In other news, please fix the f-ing comments, Gothamist.
Here's video of Robert Gibbs talking about this incident, of which the White House was apparently unaware:
http://www.gotchamediablog.com/2009/04/robert-gibbs-doesnt-really-know-what.html
priceless (from the NGTV vid): you look exactly like an actor that acts like he knows how to fly a plane in the movies but has never actually flown one before.
Got this email a little while ago from the NYC alert system:
From: NotifyNYC
Date: Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 10:37 AM
Subject: Planes over Lower Manhattan
To: [blocked out by me]
Planes observed flying over Lower Manhattan were part of an approved federal activity.
If anyone was disturbed,we could give a fuck,and we're going to do it again and again and again.
....tray tables up motherfuckers!
The sender provided the following contact information.
Sender's Name: NotifyNYC
Sender's Email: info@nyc.gov
Here is the Photoshop image everyone is suggesting they should have made. http://digg.com/d1pkjF
Would have been way cheaper.
Blanco,
This is the US Air Force we're talking about here!
There's three ways to do things - the right way, the wrong way and the Air Force way!
And guess which way the USAF does things?
The Air Force way, of course.
"Cheaper" doesn't matter - if USAF regs say to do it a certain way, even if it's stupid, they do it the regulation way.
That's how the military works - just ask any veteran and they'll tell you!