New York Local News

NEW YORK (CBS) ― It was supposed to be a photo op that captured images of an Air Force One plane with a majestic Statue of Liberty in the background. Instead, it turned into a public relations nightmare that led to recriminations from the president and mayor and prompted thousands other to ask, "What were they thinking?"

Just before the workday began on Monday, an airliner and supersonic fighter jet zoomed past the lower Manhattan skyline. Within minutes, startled financial workers streamed out of their offices, fearing a nightmarish replay of Sept. 11.

For a half-hour, the Boeing 747 and F-16 jet circled the Statue of Liberty and the Financial District near the World Trade Center site. Offices evacuated.

Dispatchers were inundated with calls. Witnesses thought the planes were flying dangerously low.

But the flyover was nothing but a photo op, apparently one of a series of flights to get pictures of the plane in front of national landmarks.

It was carried out by the Defense Department with little warning, infuriating New York officials and putting the White House on the defense. Even Mayor Michael Bloomberg didn't know about it, and he later called it "insensitive" to fly so near the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The director of the White House military office, Louis Caldera, took the blame a few hours later. One of the planes was a 747 that is called Air Force One when used by the president.

"Last week, I approved a mission over New York. I take responsibility for that decision," Caldera said. "While federal authorities took the proper steps to notify state and local authorities in New York and New Jersey, it's clear that the mission created confusion and disruption. I apologize and take
responsibility for any distress that flight caused."

When told of the flight, President Barack Obama was furious, a White House official said on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.

Still, federal officials provided few details and wouldn't say why the public and area building security managers weren't notified. They also wouldn't address why someone thought it was a wise decision to send two jets into New York City, all for a few photos with the Statue of Liberty as a backdrop.

An administration official said the purpose of the photo op was to update file photos of the president's plane near the Lady Liberty.

This official said the White House military office told the Federal Aviation Administration that it was updating file photos of Air Force One near national landmarks. The official requested anonymity to give more details than the official White House announcement.

An Air Force combat photographer took pictures from one of the fighter jets, administration officials said.

The photo op was combined with a training exercise to save money, according to another administration official who also spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to speak publicly about the behind-the-scenes discussions about the flight.

The FAA notified the New York Police Department of the flyover, telling them photos of the Air Force One jet would be taken about 1,500 feet above the Statue of Liberty around 10 a.m. Monday. It had a classified footnote that said, "Information in this document shall not be released to the public or the media."

"Why the Defense Department wanted to do a photo op right around the site of the World Trade Center catastrophe defies the imagination," Bloomberg said. "Poor judgment would be a nice way to phrase it. ... Had I known about it, I would have called them right away and asked them not to."

NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said typically a flight like this would be publicized to avoid causing a panic, but they were under orders not to in this case. They regularly get requests for flyovers, but without secrecy restrictions.

The FAA also alerted an official in the mayor's office, but he didn't tell Bloomberg, who said he first learned about it when his "BlackBerry went off crazy with people complaining about it."

The Bloomberg official who was notified was Marc Mugnos, director of operations for the Office of Citywide Event Coordination and Management. Mugnos didn't immediately respond to questions about why he didn't tell the mayor; Bloomberg's spokesman Stu Loeser issued a statement saying: "He has been reprimanded and a disciplinary letter will be placed in his file."
Workers in lower Manhattan were stunned by what they saw.

John Leitner, a floor trader at the New York Mercantile Exchange Building, said about 1,000 people "went into a total panic" and ran out of the building around 10 a.m. after seeing the planes whiz by.

"We were informed after we cleared out of there," Leitner said. "I kind of think heads should roll a little bit on that."

Employees of the Wall Street Journal also left their desks to see what was going on.

Kathleen Seagriff, a staff assistant, said workers heard the roar of the engines and then saw the planes from their windows.

"They went down the Hudson, turned around and came back by the building," she said. "It was a scary scene, especially for those of us who were there on 9/11."

Air Force spokesman Vince King said the "photo mission" involved one of two VC-25 aircraft. The aircraft is part of the Presidential Airlift Wing, based at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.

The F-16 jet that flew alongside came from the D.C. National Guard's 113th fighter wing.

"This was a photo shoot. There was no need for surprise," Sen. Charles Schumer said. "There was no need to scare thousands of New Yorkers who still have the vivid memory of 9/11."

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Ellen in Bayonne, N.J. described what she saw to WCBSTV.com: "I saw the jet flying very very low over the Hudson river, it looked like it was going to fly through our office window. Then it banked sharply toward New Jersey. But our building was evacuated because it did this 3 times. A photo shoot should have been communicated to the building in the area. We haven't forgotten 9/11, people were in a panic, lots of rumors, not a good situation."

Most witnesses who called and wrote to CBS 2 HD and WCBSTV.com were furious that local authorities hadn't notified anyone about the fly-over.

Here are some other descriptions sent in to WCBSTV.com by witnesses:

David Frank of Jersey City wrote: "I work in 30 Hudson, which is the largest building in NJ and is right on the water facing the Statue of Liberty. I ran out of the building after a stampede of people began running out of the building as they saw the jumbo jet being followed by two fighter planes veer sharply towards our building and climb right over it. By the time I got outside, it was coming around for its THIRD pass, and I watched it level off below building height over the water and then once again veer sharply towards the building. Several hundred of us began to run away fearing for our lives before it climbed steeply and flew over our building. Whoever thought that this 'photo op' was a good idea should be removed from command...why couldn't this simply be done with Photo Shop? Hollywood can create an entire armageddon on film but the US military can't photo shop a plane by the Statue of Liberty?"

Patrick Kennell of NYC wrote: "We saw a low-flying 747 buzz the Southwest edge of Manhattan, at Battery Park City, with a fighter jet appearing to chase it on its left wing. At about Rector Street or so, it took a hard left and looked to be headed straight for Jersey City. It flew over J.C., turned south, and continued to climb over Newark. It left our sight, only to return on the same path a second time about five minutes later. It was confusing and panicked the office. We dialed 9-1-1 and considered whether to evacuate. We were told by 9-1-1 that it was 'authorized' to be there. We later learned, from your website, that it was part of a DOD 'photo op.' NotifyNYC advises it was 'part of an approved federal activity.' To conduct a 'photo op,' unwarned in advance to Lower Manhattan residents and workers, in that manner was completely irresponsible."

Nancy in Lower Manhattan wrote: "Our building, One New York Plaza, was evacuated, as were most of the high rises in this area. How could the US MILITARY think that NYers wouldn't be alarmed by low-flying jets? Why was the city not notified beforehand?"

Amy in Jersey City wrote: "I work in the 30 Hudson building in Jersey City, on the side that faces the Statue of Liberty. Our group is on one of the top floors and needless to say we probably had some of the best views of this incident. We were conducting work as normal when all of a sudden we see this huge commerical plane coming at us. People were ducking and on the floor because it came so close. The plane flew right over us and couldn't have missed the building by more than 100 feet. Then we heard people scream it was coming back. The plane literally looked like it was going to barrel into our building coming straight at us until it turned upwards at the last minute. I can't believe I saw the underbelly of a plane fly over me. When it started coming back a 3rd time, we ran for the stairs. It's safe to say we are pretty angry about having to evacuate and go down 30+ flights of stairs for a 'photo shoot.' What a start to the week."



 

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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