White House apologizes for low-flying plane

[MikeinPhilly]

Has all common sense in this world been lost? Who could have possibly thought this was a good idea?

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/04/27/low...ane/index.html

A White House official apologized Monday after a low-flying Boeing 747 spotted above the Manhattan skyline frightened workers and residents into evacuating buildings.


Witnesses reported seeing the plane circle over the Upper New York Bay near the Statue of Liberty.

1 of 3 The aircraft was a White House plane taking part in a classified, government-sanctioned photo shoot, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

"Last week, I approved a mission over New York. I take responsibility for that decision," said Louis Caldera, director of the White House Military Office. "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."

Witnesses reported seeing the plane circle over the Upper New York Bay near the Statue of Liberty before flying up the Hudson River. It was accompanied by two F-16s. Watch the plane fly over Manhattan »

"I was here on 9/11," said iReporter Tom Kruk, who spotted the plane as he was getting coffee Monday morning and snapped a photo. Kruk called the sight of the aircraft low in the sky "unsettling."

The incident outraged many New Yorkers, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

"First thing is, I'm annoyed -- furious is a better word -- that I wasn't told," he said, calling the aviation administration's decision to withhold details about the flight "ridiculous" and "poor judgment."

"Why the Defense Department wanted to do a photo op right around the site of the World Trade Center defies the imagination," he said. "Had we known, I would have asked them not to." Watch the White House respond to questions about the scare »

Linda Garcia-Rose, a social worker who counsels post-traumatic stress disorder patients in an office just three blocks from where the World Trade Center towers once stood, called the flight an "absolute travesty."

"There was no warning. It looked like the plane was about to come into us," she said. "I'm a therapist, and I actually had a panic attack."

"They're traumatized. They're asking 'How could this happen?' They're nervous. Their anxiety levels are high," she said.

Garcia-Rose is considering filing a class-action suit against the government for sanctioning the plane's unannounced flight. "I believe the government has done something really wrong," she said.

Capt. Anna Carpenter of Andrews Air Force Base said local law enforcement agencies and the Federal Aviation Administration had been given notice of the exercise.

New York Police Deputy Commissioner Paul J. Browne said the department had been alerted to the flight by the federal agency "with directives to local authorities not to disclose information about it."

Sen. Chuck Schumer echoed the mayor's sentiments in a separate news conference Monday afternoon, saying the Federal Aviation Administration should have notified the public to avoid panic.


"It is absolutely outrageous and appalling to think that the FAA would plan such a photo shoot and not warn the public, knowing full well New Yorkers still have the vivid memory of 9/11 sketched in their minds," the New York Democrat said. Schumer said the FAA's decision to not announce the fly-by "really borders on being either cruel or very very stupid."

Building evacuations also took place across the Hudson River in Jersey City, New Jersey.

[Falcon118]

this GREAT idea brought to you by our wonderful government that always thinks AFTER it acts... good lord...

[JCWohlschlag]

Sen. Chuck Schumer echoed the mayor's sentiments in a separate news conference Monday afternoon, saying the Federal Aviation Administration should have notified the public to avoid panic.

And you know there was some high-rung douche on the command ladder that said, “We should keep this operation a secret in order to avoid a panic.” Good job to whoever conjured that idea!

[Decholder]

Amazing, what would've really been something is if those damn fools got shot out of the sky for pulling a stunt like that!
Dear Lord, where are these people's brains?

[-JD-]

...
"It is absolutely outrageous and appalling to think that the FAA would plan such a photo shoot and not warn the public, knowing full well New Yorkers still have the vivid memory of 9/11 sketched in their minds," the New York Democrat said. Schumer said the FAA's decision to not announce the fly-by "really borders on being either cruel or very very stupid."
...

Hell, I actually agree whole heartedly with Schumer.

[markheck1]

Amazing, what would've really been something is if those damn fools got shot out of the sky for pulling a stunt like that!
Dear Lord, where are these people's brains?

that's pretty much right there why they DIDN'T announce it

while I agree that not announcing the flyover probably wasn't the brightest idea I have heard, a Class Action Lawsuit filed is a bunch of Crap IMO

My mom has serious issues whenever a helicopter flys around, (no I am not explaining it, don't ask) but you don't see me telling her to sue when one does.

I kinda like the idea of a flyover photo-op, but IMO it should have been used as a Projection of Strength.

Simply put, one of the PR guys was thinking that the statue would make an awesome backdrop to Air Force One, as has been done before,


ETA: Hell....I just was thinkin (SCARY, I know) the damn thing might have been a PR stunt to remind people why we're fighting the war on terror, even though this administration will blame everything on the last, as is customary, they still need support for what's being done there now......

Crap...where's that roll of tin-foil....I can almost hear the black helicopters now!

[unclejumbo]

While I am usually the sort to say "put your big boy pants on and get over it", I think this was really stupid. How do you decide to not notify the population of NYC of such an exercise. Maybe in Miami it wouldn't be such a big deal, but NYC?

Maybe they'll send a couple of kids into Columbine in black trench coats as their next trick.

[dlclarkii]

Most of those people in NYC voted for Obama so they got what they deserved.

(Just kidding, I don't wish terror to innocent people, I know how mods can be ban-happy over benign sarcastic statements like this)

[RCN]

ETA: Hell....I just was thinkin (SCARY, I know) the damn thing might have been a PR stunt to remind people why we're fighting the war on terror, even though this administration will blame everything on the last, as is customary, they still need support for what's being done there now......

Crap...where's that roll of tin-foil....I can almost hear the black helicopters now!

I see your tin-foil hat and raise you one.


I prefer to think that it was designed to draw any meaningful media attention away from the following headline

Treasury needs record $361B April-June borrowing

The administration is projecting the federal deficit for the entire budget year ending Sept. 30, will total a record $1.75 trillion. A deficit at that level would nearly quadruple the previous record of $454.8 billion set last year.

To cover the government's heavy borrowing needs, Congress in February boosted the limit for the national debt to $12.1 trillion as part of the legislation that enacted President Barack Obama's $787 billion economic stimulus program. The national debt now stands at $11.1 trillion.

The imaginary money flying around the entire country is a hell of a lot more dangerous and scary than one low flying plane in New York City.

[Coops]

How much taxpayer money did this little photo shoot cost? I bet they could have got Steven Spielberg to do it for free all in virtual space and it would look better than the actual flyby.