Apr 27, 2009 10:00 pm US/Eastern
White House Apologizes For NYC Military Fly-By
F-16s Seen Escorting A 747 Near Statue Of Liberty Affiliated With Department of Defense Photo Op
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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An F-16 fighter jet trails a larger military aircraft over Lower Manhattan Monday, April 27, 2009, conducting a photo shoot that panicked thousands of New Yorkers who believed the city was in jeopardy for another terrorist attack.
Christopher Talbot, WCBS-AM Listener
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Dozens of people evacuated outside 17 State Street after military jets were seen escorting a 747 in Manhattan on April 27, 2009.
CBS
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Ellen in Bayonne, NJ took this photograph of a military jet escorting a 747 over lower Manhattan.
CBS
An administration official says a presidential Boeing 747 and a fighter jet flew low near ground zero in New York City Monday because the White House Military Office wanted to update its file photo of the president's plane near the Statue of Liberty.
White House military office director Louis Caldera says federal officials notified local and state authorities in New York and New Jersey, but he also apologized in a statement on Monday for the confusion and disruption.
At about 10 a.m. the aircraft were seen flying at low altitudes over the Statue of Liberty and parts of lower Manhattan, CBS station WCBS-TV reported. The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed that two F-16s escorting a Boeing 747 -- also used as an Air Force One -- were part of the Department of Defense photo shoot.
Hundreds of callers flooded WCBS with concerns about the low-flying jets Monday.
"I saw the jet flying very low over the Hudson river; it looked like it was going to fly through our office window," one caller named Ellen told WCBS. "Then it banked sharply toward New Jersey. But our building was evacuated because it did this three 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 contacted WCBS were furious that local authorities hadn't notified anyone about the fly-over. The FAA, however, says they contacted the NYPD, Mayor Michael Bloomberg's Office, New Jersey state police and other local authorities were told ahead of time about the shoot.
The NYPD told WCBS, however, that they were instructed by the FAA not to publicize information regarding the incident.
Air Force officials say this was a photo mission for their crew. They were shooting from the Statue of Liberty to south of the Holland tunnel, as well as from the Newark Bay to north of the Staten Island Expressway.
Officials say the shoot was part of a normal training mission. They added that they do the missions quite often.
President Barack Obama, who apparently was not informed about the fly-by, was "furious," CBS News reported.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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