May 11, 2009 3:26 pm US/Eastern
Not Again: FAA Cancels Military Flight Over Hudson
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
The Federal Aviation Administration said it turned down a U.S. Navy request to fly a patrol aircraft past Manhattan on Monday, two weeks after a government photo shoot caused a brief panic near ground zero.
A Navy unit from Brunswick, Maine, wanted to fly a P-3 Orion reconnaissance plane up and down the Hudson at about 3,000 feet, well above New York's tallest skyscrapers, at around 10:30 a.m., the FAA said. After city officials were informed and higher-level FAA officials learned about the request, they declined permission for the flight.
Two weeks ago, a Boeing 747 sometimes used as Air Force One flew over the Hudson at around 1,000 feet while on a publicity assignment, causing a brief panic among office workers near the former World Trade Center site. The photo shoot became a scandal and led to the resignation of the White House official who authorized it.
This time, authorities apparently took no chances.
After the FAA alerted the mayor's office in the morning that the flight would take place, the city sent out a public notification warning that a military plane would be in the air.
Shortly thereafter, the FAA told the Navy the mission was off.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the city did not ask for the flight to be canceled, but did tell the FAA they would have preferred more notice.
Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, whose city lies across the Hudson from Manhattan, said it was right to cancel the flight.
"This was a mistake that would have repeated the whole stupid and alarming process that occurred two weeks ago," he said, referring to the April 27 Boeing flyover near the Statue of Liberty.
A spokesman for the U.S. Naval Air Station in Brunswick did not immediately return a phone message.
Days after the first incident drew panic and anger from frightened New Yorkers, CBS 2 HD discovered the federal officials knew that sending two fighter jets and a the 747 from the presidential fleet to buzz Ground Zero and Lady Liberty might set off nightmarish fears of a 9/11 replay, but they still ordered the photo-op kept secret from the public.
In a memo obtained by CBS 2 HD, the Federal Aviation Administration's James Johnston said the agency was aware of "the possibility of public concern regarding DOD (Department of Defense) aircraft flying at low altitudes" in an around New York City. But they demanded total secrecy from the NYPD, the Secret Service, the FBI and even the mayor's office and threatened federal sanctions if the secret got out.
"To say that it should not be made public knowing that it might scare people it's just confounding," Sen. Charles Schumer said last month. "It's what gives Washington and government a bad name. It's sheer stupidity."
The flyover -- ordered by the White House Office of Military Affairs so it would have souvenir photos of Air Force One with the Statue of Liberty in the background -- had President Obama seeing red. He ordered a probe and apologized.
"It was a mistake. It will never happen again," President Obama said.
The cost of the frivolous flight was about $60,000 an hour and that was just for the presidential aircraft. That doesn't include the cost of the two F-16s that came along.
The flight by the VC-25, a modified Boeing Co. 747, and two F-16 fighter jets cost $328,835, Air Force spokeswoman Vicki Stein said.
That includes $300,658 for the larger plane, which flew a three-hour mission, and about $28,178 for the F-16 jets, which flew 1.8 hours each, Stein said in an e-mailed statement.
The NYPD was so upset about the demand for secrecy that Police Commissioner Ray Kelly vowed never to follow such a directive again and he accused the feds of inciting fears of a 9/11 replay.
"Did it show an insensitivity to the psychic wounds New York City has after 9/11? Absolutely. No questions about it. It was quite insensitive," Kelly said.
The mayoral aide who neglected to tell Mayor Michael Bloomberg about it was reprimanded.
(© 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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