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FAA Knew Low Flying Planes Would Freak Out NYers
By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 29, 2009
Modified Apr 29, 2009
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By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 29, 2009
Modified Apr 29, 2009
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Maybe Senator Chuck Schumer has the right idea with being constantly ticked off by the Federal Aviation Administration—it turns out that the FAA was well aware that the Boeing 747 and military jets (also known as the "Presidential Airlift Group") would scare the bejesus out of people in lower Manhattan and New Jersey as they did on Monday. From WCBS 2:
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.
Schumer told CBS 2's Marcia Kramer, "To say that it should not be made public knowing that it might scare people it's just confounding. It's what gives Washington and government a bad name. It's sheer stupidity." Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, whose department knew about the exercise but kept quiet, said, "I think going forward we would never tolerate that again. It was insensitive. It was very low. These are people who were of course traumatized significantly as a result of Sept. 11."
The "aerial photo mission"—apparently so a White House office could update its photographs of Air Force One flying over landmarks (like the Statue of Liberty, in this case)—has been a bit embarrassing for the White House. President Obama ordered a review, noting that it was a wasteful use of money, "It was a mistake, as was stated ... and it will not happen again." While White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said he didn't have the cost of the mission—"I haven’t been in the cabin. There’s not like a taxi meter, so I don’t know how much."— the mission was apparently planned with normal exercises, which apparently saved (some) money.
Oh, and Schumer wants the FAA to alert NYC to any low-flying planes at least 48 hours in advance to "avoid...9/11-like panic": "They should be shouting this information from the rooftops, not keeping it on the QT."
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9/11
air force one
low flying planes
panic
plane
president obama
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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