Presidential plane sparks evacuations in downtown NYC
Photo Credit: Getty Images/File
(CNN) – Several buildings in downtown New York were cleared as a precaution Monday morning when a military 747 accompanied by two F-16's were spotted flying low over lower Manhattan. The culprit: part of the presidential fleet.
The maneuvers were part of a photo shoot, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. An Air Force spokesperson says the plane involved was one of the two used to transport the president, also known as VC-25.
Eyewitnesses said the plane was seen circling over the Upper New York Bay in the area of the Statue of Liberty. It then flew up the Hudson River. Building evacuations also took place across the Hudson River in Jersey City.
Officegoers in lower Manhattan may have been surprised by the display, but according to an Air Force spokeswoman, local officials were not: both the FAA and local law enforcement were warned ahead of time.
Watch an iReport of the incident.
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Photoshop CS4 : $699.
Fueling and flying a 747 and two F16s, plus work hours lost due to building evacuations? $3.6 Million
For what it cost to stage this photo-op, they could have paid a Photoshop guru to fake a pic (just as convincingly as the real thing) for a couple a thousand dollars MAX.
D'uh.
It is absolutely unfathomable to me that the general public would not be informed of this activity. I am sure some people thought 9/11 was happening all over again. Why create unnecessary panic? Does anyone have an explanation for the blatant disrespect for the citizens of NYC?
A supremely stupid thing to do. They're lucky people weren't stroking out or having heart attacks in the streets.
That's right, scare the hell out of the residents of Manhattan for a photo shoot. Why not? Do you assume they are use to this by now? Good grief! what next?
What a pretty stupid move! why would they do something like that after 9/11? imagine hearing a 747 buzzing lower Manhattan the first thing comes to mind is hijacking/911 run!.. pretty stupid "photo op"
Apparently our current Administration forgot what horrible memories this visual "photoshoot" could trigger for a city that had endured so much.... Lack of planning and total disregard not to alert local agencies... And we are prepared to defend ourselves when we can't even notify agencies of a "planned" low flying aircraft for a photoshoot. food for thought
This was a typical bone head move by the FAA.
Nothing here, folks. It's just the O'man buzzing 'round the Apple in his new pimped out ride.
Our hard earned tax dollars at work!!! I am sure that cost around $125,000, for a photo? Great work Obama
Let's see how many people will blame Obama for this ...
Communication failed somewhere between Federal , State and Local leaders.
A few million $$$ of taxpayer money for a photo-op. This presidency is about as thoughtful as a dime-store novel.
So let me understand this. Air Force One used taxpayers money to have a photo op over New York City. How come the media won't call it Air Force One?
What were they thinking – can they think? Get the idiots out of the government decision making positions or stop taxing us!!!!!
here is other D party to scare people.....
and
I support it for reason – flight test... but WRONG PLACE!!!!
I can see how New Yorkers might be concerned at the site of a large airliner flying low near Manhattan and being escorted by fighter jets. For a while I had begun to believe that the horror of the attacks of September 11th had been forgotten.
From various sources: 40,000-50,000 dollars per hour to operate Air Force One.
For a PHOTO-OP that scared people.
Wow... emergency evacuations for a Presidential photo-op??
This would be ridiculously funny – if it weren't so scary how this administration uses propaganda.
We cannot and should not over react to every single thing. This is overblown. If we have National Security, then reasoned minds should believe that if this were indeed a security breach, actions would have warranted such bruhaha.
There is such a thing as making a mountain out of a molehill, this is such a case. We certainly have enough "real problems" than to create problem where non exixts, and to always assume the worst.
Everyone is already on edge, let's not create an atmosphere where everything is negative. It is not.
thank BO. That was helpful.
Who exactly approved of this brilliant idea? I doubt President Obama knew anything about it. He never would have agreed to it. Stupid, stupid decision by some idiot bureaucrat. FAA, DOD, some really lame brain from within those agencies, and the pilots flying these planes just thought it was a photo op, too? Wouldn't frighten anyone? What are people thinking? Over NYC of all places!!
And how much did this photo shoot cost the taxpayers?????????
Might we please get a full explanation of the reason for the flyover before we start opening my mouths we obama this Obama that?
My building was evacuated the morning. I was also near the WTC center site right on 9/11.
This was not a good way to start the morning. Everyone in the area was worried and trying to figure out what was going on.
I was thankful for how quickly the building management was reacting, but it would have been better not to have to go through this experience.
Secretary Gates should explain why he allowed this outrageous waste of taxpayer funds. Why did we need this publicity stunt?