One of President Barack Obama's official planes and an Air Force
fighter jet flew low over the Statue of Liberty Monday in an
approved photo opportunity that reminded some startled New Yorkers
of the September 11 attacks.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he was "furious" and
criticized the federal government and his own administration for
failing to warn the public, which was rattled by the image of a
jumbo jet flanked by an F-16 flying near the World Trade Centre
site.
"The good news is it was nothing more than an inconsiderate, badly
conceived and insensitive photo op with the taxpayers' money,"
Bloomberg said.
New Yorkers remain sensitive to any incident evocative of the 2001
attacks, which involved hijacked airliners that destroyed the Twin
Towers of the World Trade Centre.
Many people fled buildings, and stock prices extended losses at the
time.
The U.S. Air Force, which operates the president's plane, said the
"aerial photo mission" involved an F-16 fighter jet escort and one
of the Boeing 747s designated as Air Force One when the president
is aboard. Obama was not on board.
Police said federal authorities told them not to disclose the
information ahead of time and to direct any inquiries to the
Federal Aviation Administration.
The FAA called it "an approved military photo op."
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said he was unaware of the
exercise and would consult with the military about what
happened.
Pentagon officials said they were unaware of the aerial photo shoot
and were not involved in its planning. The exercise was conducted
by the Presidential Airlift Group, which operates under the White
House Military Office.
Bloomberg called it "poor judgement on the part of the Defence
Department" and blamed a breakdown in communications at City Hall
for failing to inform him ahead of time.
"Had I known, I would have called them right away and asked them
not to. .... They should know how sensitive people would be if they
had low-flying planes down around the World Trade Centre site,"
Bloomberg told reporters.
Employees at the New York Mercantile Exchange, Goldman Sachs,
Merrill Lynch and other institutions evacuated their buildings, and
hundreds of others called the 911 emergency response line, City
Councilman Daniel Garodnick wrote in a letter of complaint to the
FAA.
"Thousands of people filled the streets in lower Manhattan, fearing
the worst. If we had had advance warning, we could have advised our
constituents not to be alarmed," he wrote.
Dominick Caglioti, an independent commodities trader who works next
to the site where the Twin Towers formerly stood, said, "We took it
upon ourselves to leave the building. We asked police downstairs
about it, and they said they didn't know anything. It could have
caused some real panic."
Military Training.
