Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Dept. Of Defense Plan To Scare NYC Totally Succeeds!
By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 27, 2009
Modified Apr 29, 2009
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 27, 2009
Modified Apr 29, 2009
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
This morning's Boeing 747+fighter jet fly-over was, as we now know, nothing to worry about because it was a photo opportunity for Air Force One photographers or something. But it's not like hundreds, if not thousands of New Yorkers in lower Manhattan, weren't just a little startled by the low-flying aircraft, evacuating buildings and sending worried calls or texts to friends. [Update: The White House has apologized! More below.]
The NYPD told the media, "The flight of a VC-25 aircraft and F-16 fighters this morning was authorized by the FAA for the vicinity of the Statue of Liberty with directives to local authorities not to disclose information about it but to direct any inquiries to the FAA Air Traffic Security Coordinator." And the FAA said, "It is pre-planned, pre-coordinated with everyone involved... It's a military flight over New York to take photos."
Yet the coordination seemed to have missed the Mayor's office! NY1 reports, "Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he was furious that he was not notified"—and that it was "poor judgment" for the flyover to be so near Ground Zero—"The mayor said had he known about the photo shoot on Thursday when the message was sent out, he would have spoken with the Defense Department and asked them to reconsider." And one woman, who had worked on the 13th floor of the World Trade Center's north tower, told the Wall Street Journal, "For anybody who had gone through the World Trade Center, this was the most thoughtless, senseless thing they could do to somebody."
We asked the Air Force for comment and received this statement:
"In coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Presidential Airlift Group conducted a aerial photo mission in the New York City area on 27 Apr 2009 involving the VC-25 and an F-16, in conjunction with normally scheduled continuation training for assigned aircrew members. This mission was coordinated for the Upper New York Bay, south of the Holland Tunnel and in the Newark Bay north of the Staten Island Expressway between the hours of 1000L and 1030L."
When NBC News' Chuck Todd asked White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs about the flyover, Gibbs apparently didn't know about it. Todd was surprised Gibbs didn't have a response, since it was a plane used as Air Force One.
Update: The White House Military Office director Louis Caldera issued an apology, explaining he approved the mission last week: "I take responsibility for that decision. 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." A financial services executive in lower Manhattan told the Washington Post, "Particularly for people like myself who were here on September 11, it was kind of an uncool thing. Someone should have made a public announcement."
Tagged
air force one
Boening 747
fighter jets
lower manhattan
panic
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Central Park birders, others remember 63-year-old woman killed in park
People who said they knew her described her as an artist and a familiar presence in the Ramble.
By
Charles Lane
Published Sep 28, 2026 at 7:04 p.m. ET
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
News
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
By
Arya Sundaram
A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.
By
Samantha Max
Crews launch tunnel machines to dig first new Hudson River rail tunnels since 1910
By
Michael Sol Warren
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .