Official e-mails reveal boondoggle over Air Force One's Manhattan flyover

[Harry 1,076]

Government officials knew the Air Force One flyover of the Statue of Liberty would scare the bejabbers out of New Yorkers, but went ahead with it anyway and quickly realized their bigtime blunder.

 

A barrage of e-mails between officials right after the flight made public Friday showed a flurry of second guessing, finger-pointing, attempts at damage control - even comparisons between them and The Three Stooges.

 

"We ... need to construct some sort of timeline on when folks became aware of it if that is possible," one Air Force official wrote, responding to the public fright.

 

"I agree we .. . need to accomplish damage control, but we aren't the POC (point of contact)," the response reads. "Nor do I want to become a belly button for NORAD to push on this one."

 

Full Story: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/08/01/2009-08-01_official_emails_show_air_force_one_flyover_manhattan_was_stupid_but_they_did_it_.html#ixzz0MxGKgSSS

[metsfan 2]

My girlfriend & i were wondering why everyone was out on the streets that morning when she was walking from HBLR to PATH & on the phone with me.

 

- A

[rmcconnell 1]

For all the trouble they caused, they didn't even get a good photo! They should have taken it from the other side with the New York skyline in the background, not the industrial landscape of New Jersey.

[Blackmanor1000 0]

I don't see what the big deal is and why this would and why this had even scared the "bejabbers" out of New Yorkers. I didn't see for myself because I was young, but I remember hearing my mom say something about how she saw Air Force One over NYC, doesn't mean something bad was happening. Is Air Force One supposed to only be flying over New York when there's an emergency or when it's highly publicized like Obama's visit to a Broadway play? Is a not allowed to make a sharp turn? Sheesh >.>

[metsfan 2]

I don't see what the big deal is and why this would and why this had even scared the "bejabbers" out of New Yorkers. I didn't see for myself because I was young, but I remember hearing my mom say something about how she saw Air Force One over NYC, doesn't mean something bad was happening. Is Air Force One supposed to only be flying over New York when there's an emergency or when it's highly publicized like Obama's visit to a Broadway play? Is a not allowed to make a sharp turn? Sheesh >.>

 

If you saw how many planes flew over the river at a few thousand feet & then a low flying oddly behaving 747 in an area where you usually see smaller planes & twinjets you'd be concerned too. 747 is much more common over at JFK. In any case, based on the photos, it looks like it was really not flying very high, and with absolutely no information on it i don't blame them for freaking out. Also, there are so many plane liveries you likely wouldn't see that it was AF1 if the lighting was off.

 

Also, passenger planes make 1G turns.

 

- A

[Y2Julio 206]

I don't see what the big deal is and why this would and why this had even scared the "bejabbers" out of New Yorkers. I didn't see for myself because I was young, but I remember hearing my mom say something about how she saw Air Force One over NYC, doesn't mean something bad was happening. Is Air Force One supposed to only be flying over New York when there's an emergency or when it's highly publicized like Obama's visit to a Broadway play? Is a not allowed to make a sharp turn? Sheesh >.>

 

You tell that to the families of the victims of 9/11. A low flying airplane is of concern.

[BMT B1 Division 0]

Why didn't they just use a computer image of the plane to "MAKE" the picture instead of scaring everyone and wasting all that money for example, with the computer you could show AF1 flying in formation with the star ship Enterprise......