Air Force One over Manhattan New York City VC-25 low pass with F-16s

Video courtesy Samira Atash http://www.beautyandtheeast.tv

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/27/air-force-one-backup-rattles-new...

White House Apologizes for Air Force Flyover
By A. G. SULZBERGER AND MATTHEW L. WALD

Updated, 5:52 p.m. | An Air Force One lookalike, the backup plane for the one regularly used by the president, flew low over parts of New York and New Jersey on Monday morning, accompanied by two F-16 fighters, so Air Force photographers could take pictures high above the New York harbor.

But the exercise — conducted without any notification to the public — caused momentary panic in some quarters and led to the evacuation of several buildings in Lower Manhattan and Jersey City. By the afternoon, the situation had turned into a political fuse box, with Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg saying that he was furious that he had not been told in advance about the flyover.

At 4:39 p.m. Monday, the White House issued an apology for the flyover. Louis E. Caldera, director of the White House Military Office, who served in the Clinton administration as secretary of the Army, said in a statement:

Last week, I approved a mission over New York. 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, its clear that the mission created confusion and disruption. I apologize and take responsibility for any distress that flight caused.
The mission on Monday, officials said, was set up to create an iconic shot of Air Force One, similar to one that was taken in recent years over the Grand Canyon.

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

A senior administration official said that an F.A.A. official notified Mayor Bloombergs office last week about the flyover. She said that Marc Mugnos, the director of operations in the office of citywide event coordination and management, was the official notified about the Air Force operation.

The flyover, which began around 10 a.m., resulted in widespread confusion and a flood of calls to emergency hot lines. Perplexed officials at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and other authorities were inundated with calls from anxious ferry passengers, office workers and residents.

The mayor said the Police Department and someone in his administration he did not say who received an e-mail from the Federal Aviation Administration late on Thursday, informing them that there would be a fly-by for a photo-op, as they described it.

However, Mr. Bloomberg said he was not apprised of the flyover until his BlackBerry started buzzing this morning with messages from people asking if he knew what was going on. He characterized it as a breakdown in communication that will never happen again.

First thing is, Im annoyed furious is a better word that I wasnt told, he said at a City Hall news conference held to discuss the swine flu cluster in Queens.

In unusually harsh language, the mayor criticized the Defense Department for conducting the exercise and the Federal Aviation Administration for being secretive about it.

Jim Peters, an F.A.A. spokesman, said the photo op was approved and coordinated with everyone. Notification was made in advance to the mayors office, including its 911 and 311 operation centers, the New York City Police Department, the New Jersey State Police, the United States Park Police and other agencies, he said.

The Police Department confirmed that it had been notified about the event but said it had been barred from alerting the public. The flight of a VC-25 aircraft and F-16 fighters this morning was authorized by the F.A.A. 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 F.A.A. Air Traffic Security Coordinator, the Police Department said in a statement.

The mayor criticized the secrecy around the flyover. The e-mail notification did have the normal language of saying this is sensitive information, should be distributed on a need-to-know basis, that they did not plan to have any publicity about it, which I think is ridiculous and just poor judgment, Mr. Bloomberg said...

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[Garret361]

Fuck you you stupid mother fucker 9/11 was a horrible day in our history so excuse people in New York if they are afraid of seeing a large air-plane flying low over the city.

[tuggie68]

Big deal if he is a muslim i am not muslim but don't judge him. Neither should you DocMcCrae or maybe your just a racist.

[TheCRChannel]

@benry200 A plane, at around 500ft, above New York, where there is NO VOR/NDB or any Flight plan over New York, at that altitude. That isn't normal, you fucking dickhead. So, therefore, the only thing that comes to mind is 911 all over again...

[theLAngeles1]

@Garret361 usa did it. missile and no terrorist envolvid

[whilsta]

I wish someone had told the Government about Photoshop. Then they could have gotten their picture of Air Force One over New York done so much easier.

[DubstepHero1]

@trocolele lol most people in new york are ass holes. not all but most.

[JuliusIsMe]

@trocolele Depends where you live in ny. The real americans are in the midwest.

[trocolele]

I was extremely prejudiced against all United States people (I do NOT say Americans, because this INCLUDES Southamericans), before I visited New York. Now I know that there is a lot of kindness, civility and open hearts there (at least in New York!).

[benry200]

ITS A FUCKING PLANE YOU DUMBASS GET OVER IT!

[TheWWOG]

Its not a highjackng if there is a jet right next to it and plus its air force one you would need a lot of fire power to get past the security.