someone that works for him[/B] made a bad decision and he's already called it a "mistake" and siad that "it won't happen again."
It emerged last night that the federal officials who authorised a PR stunt in which a presidential jumbo jet buzzed around the statue of Liberty followed by two US Air Force fighters knew that it might cause panic - and so decided that it should be kept secret.
......But CBS TV reported last night that it had obtained a memo which made clear that the Federal Aviation Authority knew that the low-altitude flight could cause panic and demanded secrecy from the New York Police Department, the FBI, the Secret Service and the mayor's office......
Meanwhile, the USAF estimated the total costs for the flights to be $328, 835 (£223,000) including $35,000 in fuel costs for the Boeing VC-25 - a modified 747 - and its two accompanying F-16 fighters.
The White House Military Office approved the flights when the presidential jet flew past the Statue of Liberty.
The sight of the huge jet passing office windows in the financial district of Lower Manhattan - where the memories of September 11 are still strong - sent thousands of fearful workers streaming on to the streets and prompted a deluge of calls to emergency services.
At certain points, the blue-and-white Boeing, with the United States of America emblazoned on its side, flew as low as 500ft.
No, make that the entire country to the White House.
Monday's flyover of New York for a photo op of the 747 that serves as Air Force One was the most stunningly stupid decision by a group of adults authorized to use government airplanes that it's possible to imagine. On a scale of 10 for utter idiocy, it's a 13. It makes those clueless guys who busted the Washington ADIZ in a Cessna 150 a couple of years ago look like Lindbergh finding Paris with a compass and a watch.
The most disgusting part of it—it's damn near evil—is that the FAA and the White House notified the NYPD of the flyover ahead of time but classified it, preventing its release to the public. There is no other way to described it than this: These agencies engaged in negligent terrorizing of a public still traumatized by the September 11, 2001 attacks. While we're talking about resetting relations with Cuba and Venezuela, what we really need to be doing is resetting our own government, or at least the part of it that deals with the highly charged relationship between airplanes and the national security apparatus. And surprise!...it applies to Air Force One, too.
Somewhere, I'm sure a few people are saying, "Oh, New York, get over it." I wasn't in New York on September 11th, but I know many people who were. I can't look deep enough to get over it. When I saw the pictures of Monday's fiasco, I had the same gut wrenching dread that we all had on that awful day almost eight years ago. It still seems like yesterday to me. I don't think the country is anywhere near being able to tough it out when an airplane as big as a 747 flies that low over New York or any other major city. Nor should anybody be testing the premise.
And this was done by the same people who have the unmitigated gall to frisk the citizenry before boarding airliners, to bar general aviation aircraft from ever more airspace and to generally make life miserable for the rest of us while they do they very thing that scares the hell out of all of us.
It's hard to know how even to respond to this sort of lunacy. I for one expect President Obama on the tube today explaining himself and illuminating us on who he has fired. I don't care if he knew about it or not. It's his watch. We just loaned him the airplane.
Meanwhile, to whomever originated this stunt, how about this: A 12-year-old with a copy of Photoshop could have gotten your photo op with a lot less grief than this mess will create.
no, he is not mocking us.
someone that works for him made a bad decision and he's already called it a "mistake" and siad that "it won't happen again."
Obama stepped up and apologized, right?Sign on Obama's desk "The buck stops somewhere else."
Obama stepped up and apologized, right?
I don't know how to make you understand.
If someone punches you in the face, then says I'm, sorry, then turns around
and punches you again, then says I'm sorry...
How long are you going to let that continue?
i can't recall.
Real Cost of 'Stupid' New York Flyover Far More Than Air Force's Total
The cost of flying the presidential jet over lower Manhattan for a photo-op that sent panicked New Yorkers running into the streets extended well beyond the $328,835 spent by the Air Force.
By James Osborne
FOXNews.com
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Flying the presidential jet over lower Manhattan for a photo op, sending panicked New Yorkers running into the streets, was as "stupid a thing to do as one could dream up," the White House said Wednesday. And it cost far more than the $328,835 the Air Force says it spent.
New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg's office said it doesn't have hard numbers yet on how much the city had to spend to deal with the panic caused when a backup jet to Air Force One, accompanied by two F-16 fighter jets, flew around for approximately 30 minutes for a photo shoot commissioned by the White House Military Office.
The city's 911 operators were inundated with phone calls as residents of New York and New Jersey looked out their windows to see a jumbo jet and two fighters circling lower Manhattan, where nearly 3,000 people were killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
The New York Police Department said there were an estimated 97 calls to 911 about the flyover in a one-hour span. That is an increase of about 15 percent from a typical hour.
Across New York Harbor, ambulances and police officers in Jersey City, N.J., were deployed to Exchange Plaza after the city received 13 emergency calls requesting information or medical assistance, said city spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill.
"(The police) had a loudspeaker, telling people it wasn't an attack," she said. "There were people falling down stairs, and there was a lot of confusion and chaos."
"We don't have any inventory nor will we be able to prepare one," Jason Post, a spokesman for Bloomberg, said when asked to give the cost of the emergency response.
"We can't count the jet fuel like the Pentagon did. It was an unwelcome disruption, but we don't have a number to put on it."
The cost extended beyond municipal government to lost hours for New York and New Jersey businesses, as workers streamed out of their offices in panic.
In lower Manhattan a number of companies ordered their employees to evacuate after seeing the Air Force One backup plane fly past their high-rise windows.
In the World Financial Center complex alone, at least two of the four towers, representing some 20,000 office workers, were partially evacuated, said Melissa Copley, a spokeswoman for Brookfield Properties, which manages the buildings.
"It's kind of hard to say. There were two (companies) in one building, three in another," she said. "I'd say less than half the workers in those buildings evacuated."
The 911 tapes released on Wednesday vividly revealed the extent of the disturbance.
"We just saw a big airliner being escorted by two fighter planes next to it," one caller told a 911 operator. "We just saw a jetliner fly low-ceiling above the medical center. We thought it was gonna crash into us. There were two fighter planes next to it."
The lack of a public warning on the flyover prompted outrage from both Bloomberg and President Obama, who both said they were unaware of the photo-op.
"It was a mistake, as was stated. It was something we found out about along with all of you. And it will not happen again," the president said.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs elaborated on the president's words on Wednesday, calling the flyover as "stupid a thing to do as one could dream up."
If President Obama had had "any knowledge of the stupid idea to go take pictures of the plane in New York, I can assure you that wouldn't have happened," Gibbs said aboard Air Force One.
In an interview with MSNBC later in the day, Gibbs said, "This was a dumb idea on just about every level that you want to analyze it on. I would certainly agree with that. The president would agree with that.
"He was furious when we told him about it and he's asked that the deputy chief of staff look into how a decision like this got made and to ensure that it never happens again. And that's what we're doing right now."
It may be the one issue on which Gibbs and Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., agree.
Calling it a "glamour shot," Bond said the "stunt is a symbol of how far from their minds the attacks of Sept. 11 are."
White House Military Officer Louis Caldera has taken the blame for authorizing the flyover, and he has apologized to the public.
The Air Force said the three-hour mission to New York was considered part of its training schedule and would have been flown regardless of the photo-op.
Of the $328,835 spent, about $35,000 was the cost of fuel, with the remainder spread over regular repair and maintenance costs estimated over the life of the aircraft.
Only crew were on board the flight, Air Force spokesman Vince King said.
Stephen Clark contributed to this story.
OMFG dude that's ridiculous. he's not in a 12 step program. you want him to swear a blood oath while standing on a pile of bibles?
seriously, please enumerate exactly what you think "this one" needs to do. the devil's in the details so please take your time and lay it all out.
an apology means nothing without amends, and repent.
Ya think Obama will admit that he is lying about not knowing his personal plane was unavailable; or will he continue to claim that he didn't know about his own staff authorizing a joy ride?