Air Force One Photo Opp Triggers Panic in Manhattan

ABC News Blogs ^ | April 27, 2009 | MARK CRUDELE, RICHARD ESPOSITO and LISA STARK

[KayEyeDoubleDee]

A photo shoot involving a 747 used as Air Force One and two fighter jets flying at low altitude led to hundreds of frightened calls from residents and workers in Lower Manhattan this morning, triggering memories of 9-11 as many evacuated their offices...

According to officials, the flight -- authorized by the FAA -- came in as low as 1000 feet to 150 feet above the city as it made a large circle over Manhattan, Staten Island, and New Jersey...

Other officials noted that they were led to believe the flight would be limited to the area near the Statue of Liberty, however the flight pattern was above a much larger portion of New York and at an extremely low altitude.

[Lurker]

This is beyond stupid. It borders on malicious.

[TommyTrojan]

Let me affix my tinfoil cap securely....perhaps this was 0bama's dry run for another of his assaults upon America, to show that he could execute a better terrorist attack than Bush?

Would have been interesting had a patriot in possession of a ground-to-air weapon shot the 747 out of the sky with the intent of foiling an attack on NYC.

[a fool in paradise]

“They are our planes now!”

I think he wakes up every day and still can’t believe he pulled it off.

[Never on my watch]

“If the President is not on the plane, it is not Air Force One.”

For all intents and purposes the plane is called “Air Force One”, although the name is drawn from the unclassified call sign. It is the common name used to refer to the aircraft itself even though it is not the technical nomenclature “VC-25.” F-15s are Eagles, A-10s are Worthogs, E-8s are Joint STARS, E-3s are AWACS, RC-135s can be Rivit Joint, etc.

[a fool in paradise]

Reminds me of the jihadist calendar that came out before 9-11.

[Ann Archy]

I was living in a high rise bldg in Seattle on Sept 11, 2002, and a BLIMP with the letters "A and "Q" and another "A".....was coming my way! My first thought was OMG THEY ARE SO BLATANT THEY ARE ADVERTSING!! It was coming towards me and I was considering fleeing my apt. when the Blimp turned and it said AQUAFINA"!!!LOL!!!

I cannot imagine how NEW YORKERS felt today!!!

[Mister Muggles]

WHY?..he done AX you no questions.
mind yo BIDNESS.

[Never on my watch]

“A-10s are Worthogs”

Correction for the sake of accuracy, the A-10 is the “Thunderbolt II.” Worthog is a term of endearment.

[WOSG]

Why is obama getting blame here?
who authorized or wanted this?

[rfp1234]

[ml/nj]

So there have been quite a few Air Force Ones. I've seen retired ones at the Air Force Museum in Dayton, and another out at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley. I think these planes date back to the Presidency of FDR.

But I wonder if any of the previous Presidents felt the need to call for a similar photoshoot.

ML/NJ

[manc]

yet the media will give them a pass.

it does not make any sense to do this and it just shows how out of touch some are with this country

[sportutegrl]

Obama’s lying is Clintonian. Air Force One with the President on board could be described as, “A 747 used as Air Force One.” No where in the article does it imply that it wasn’t AFO at the time. Even if it wasn’t, who did he give the keys to, Michelle?

[bergmeid]

Sure we’ll bend the FAR’s that say you cannot fly lower than 1000 feet over densely populated areas (at least when I was actively flying ten years ago). Hey Obama! Those FARS have a friggin’ purpose!

I wonder what that pilot would have done in case of a serious engine failure. Gawd. I guess they are counting on the fact that they won’t have any stinkin’ engine problems....

[Never on my watch]

“Gawd. I guess they are counting on the fact that they won’t have any stinkin’ engine problems....”

Good thing they didn't encounter any geese.

However, with four big engines, it would take a lot to prevent it from recovering well enough to land.

Still, the way this event was handled is inexcusable.

[livius]

I knew it rang a bell!

I can’t believe that Ears actually did something this stupid and arrogant. Well, on second thought, it’s all too easy to believe. L’Etat, c’est moi.

[Cheburashka]

I’m saying it wasn’t a pre-planned photo op with air force one at all.

---

If the President's not on it, it's not Air Force One.

If you're trying to say that it's a pre-planned photo op with a plane that looks like Air Force One, then you are exactly right.

[GreyMountainReagan]

“Like playing crappy music 24/7 when they had Noriega surrounded.”

---

What? Our troops did that because Noriega loved classical and hated rock and roll.

Big difference. One hand it was OUR troops pissing off an ‘enemy’.

On the other hand it was our TOTUS pissing off ..... an..... ‘enemy’?

OK, maybe it was the same, except this time we are the enemy.

[a fool in paradise]

The quote was actually Ron Silver when he was a liberal (his worldview changed after 9-11) and he was irked about the military flyover at the Clinton inauguration.

A fellow traveller told him to cheer up “those are OUR planes now”. But it is a mentality.

[gridlock]

Some pictures just don’t need to be taken.