Dept. Of Defense Plan To Scare NYC Totally Succeeds!

Photograph of a Boening 747 and a fighter jets flying near lower Manhattan by istolethetv on Flickr

This morning's Boeing 747+fighter jet fly-over was, as we now know, nothing to worry about because it was a photo opportunity for Air Force One photographers or something. But it's not like hundreds, if not thousands of New Yorkers in lower Manhattan, weren't just a little startled by the low-flying aircraft, evacuating buildings and sending worried calls or texts to friends. [Update: The White House has apologized! More below.]

The NYPD told the media, "The flight of a VC-25 aircraft and F-16 fighters this morning was authorized by the FAA for the vicinity of the Statue of Liberty with directives to local authorities not to disclose information about it but to direct any inquiries to the FAA Air Traffic Security Coordinator." And the FAA said, "It is pre-planned, pre-coordinated with everyone involved... It's a military flight over New York to take photos."

Yet the coordination seemed to have missed the Mayor's office! NY1 reports, "Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he was furious that he was not notified"—and that it was "poor judgment" for the flyover to be so near Ground Zero—"The mayor said had he known about the photo shoot on Thursday when the message was sent out, he would have spoken with the Defense Department and asked them to reconsider." And one woman, who had worked on the 13th floor of the World Trade Center's north tower, told the Wall Street Journal, "For anybody who had gone through the World Trade Center, this was the most thoughtless, senseless thing they could do to somebody."

We asked the Air Force for comment and received this statement:

"In coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Presidential Airlift Group conducted a aerial photo mission in the New York City area on 27 Apr 2009 involving the VC-25 and an F-16, in conjunction with normally scheduled continuation training for assigned aircrew members. This mission was coordinated for the Upper New York Bay, south of the Holland Tunnel and in the Newark Bay north of the Staten Island Expressway between the hours of 1000L and 1030L."

When NBC News' Chuck Todd asked White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs about the flyover, Gibbs apparently didn't know about it. Todd was surprised Gibbs didn't have a response, since it was a plane used as Air Force One.

Update: The White House Military Office director Louis Caldera issued an apology, explaining he approved the mission last week: "I take responsibility for that decision. While federal authorities took the proper steps to notify state and local authorities in New York and New Jersey, it's clear that the mission created confusion and disruption. I apologize and take responsibility for any distress that flight caused." A financial services executive in lower Manhattan told the Washington Post, "Particularly for people like myself who were here on September 11, it was kind of an uncool thing. Someone should have made a public announcement."

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on April 27, 2009 5:03 PM

Comments [rss]

ides_of_march

As usual, Obama passes the buck. ie. votes "present" again.

He is the commander-in-chief, it's his responsibility what the military does. Either he knew about this ahead of time and is therefore a reckless moron, or he didn't, in which case he is a clueless moron.

If this had happened with Bush in the White House, the posters here would be going beserk with rage.

GREGORYABUTLER

And you know who was flying that jet, right?

Keri Ferrell, the Hipster Grifter!

paulie

Have Photoshop licenses gotten so expensive that the DoD can justify this kind of spending?

jt10000

The difference with fleet week is that the public, the police, etc know it's fleet week or can easily find out.

NYCSniper

An excellent use of taxpayer money! Thank you, gubbermint!

NannyState

I always knew Harrison Ford was the 20th hijacker.

MaiaW

I don't see this as much different from some of the Fleet Week aerial events they hold each year...there was one year they used really old (and loud) planes that completely seemed as if they were about to crash land in either downtown Manhattan or Brooklyn. Not amusing at first, but eh, you get over it. That said, I agree with the person who suggested Photoshop; that would have been simple!

Bottomless Chips

Someone should be fired over this with no benefits since it was gross negligence.

Just kidding: It's government. He'll be re-assigned to another worthless agency and be paid OT and a pension.

bandit

Um, why is our government paying to fly circles around New York and take pretty pictures when our nation is in economic crisis? Wholly apart from the idiocy of the idea, this just seems like a program that can be shut down. Use some stock photos or wait a few years.

glasswindow

relax, it's all part of the stimulus plan to pour money into the economy.

Past Taliban

Swine flu, low-flying presidential airplanes terrorizing people: if this country is NOT a Third World Shithole already then it's probably just 5 minutes from becoming one.

ides_of_march

Well, we have the right guy in office to turn it into one in a hurry. All that experience in Kenya and Indonesia will come in handy.

Shinobi Shaw

THANK YOU! Finally a sensible comment on this thread.

And I completely agree, the US is on the verge of Third world status as we speak.

AMDCer

Gee, I really love the way commenters on these threads throw around the phrase "third world" any time they are slightly inconvenienced or their slice is too cold. Jesus - move to Somalia or Sudan and then we'll see how much you appreciate living in one of the most advanced, sophisticated, civilized cities in the world.

Rocknrope

Ha! So true, people here in the US have no concept of what it's like to live in an actual third world country. Most of us wouldn't last a week.

Shinobi Shaw

Somalia and SUdan are extreme cases, those countries are not just third world, they are complete 'post-apocalyptic" war zones. They are not representative of the Third World completely.

US will probably slid down to a third world status akin to Russia.

AMDCer

Yes, you're right, they are. I was making a point, but as long as you mention it, I'd rather live in the US than Russia any day.

Shinobi Shaw

THANK YOU! Finally a sensible comment on this thread.

And I completely agree with you, the US is on the verge of Third world as we speak.

FlowerGal

Shame they weren't there on 911. Guess this was a make up.

marchendrix

Having the fighter jet in close radius would have made it even more terrifying if I had seen it. I expect fighter jets to intercept any low flying aircraft over Manhattan, and if they are seen, that's all the more worried we should be.