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"Power Hour Chatter" -
April 29, 2009
This is an e-mail received at The Power
Hour:
I am probably going to hate myself for
even bringing this up...
But I'm in the Air Force, so I tend to
notice airplaney things.
Did anyone notice in the still shots
that the F-16 has a solid orange-red
tail? I was ignoring this whole episode
as bureaucratic buffoonery by my service
until I saw that.
To my knowledge (which is pretty
extensive) the only aircraft we fly with
vertical stabilizers painted solid
orange-red are old planes that have been
converted to serve as unmanned target
drones for air-to-air combat training.
Operational fighter and attack aircraft
do not have brightly-painted vertical
stabs of any color, except one-off
temporary paint jobs for special events
like air tattoos, and certainly not
orange-red, which is used to loudly
convey the message "Danger: Keep back!
This plane has no human pilot!
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/gallery?section=news&id=6782449&photo=8
(See Original photo of the fighter jet)
White House Apologizes
For NYC Military Fly-By
(Source:
http://wcbstv.com/breakingnewsalerts/military.jets.nyc.2.995375.html
)
Some military aircraft flying over lower
Manhattan, including a Boeing 747 from
the Air Force One fleet, caused a brief
scare for residents, workers, and
pedestrians on Monday, but CBS 2 has
learned the jets were part of a
Department of Defense photo shoot and
that there was no threat to the city.
The head of the White House Military
Office issued an apology just after 4:30
p.m.
"Last week, I approved a mission over
New York. 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,"
Director Louis Caldera said in a
statement.
According to many callers who flooded
CBS 2 HD with their concerns, at about
10 a.m. The aircraft were seen flying at
low altitudes over the Statue of Liberty
and parts of lower Manhattan. The
Federal Aviation Administration
confirmed that two F-16s escorting a
Boeing 747 -- which CBS 2 confirmed is
also used as an Air Force One -- were
part of the Department of Defense photo
shoot.
 Did
You See The Jets? Tell Us What You Saw &
Upload Your Pictures, Video Here
Many residents and workers who saw the
aircraft evacuated their buildings as a
result, but officials say there is no
reason for a panic.
Ellen in Bayonne, N.J. Described what
she saw to WCBSTV.Com: "I saw the jet
flying very very low over the Hudson
river, it looked like it was going to
fly through our office window. Then it
banked sharply toward New Jersey. But
our building was evacuated because it
did this 3 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 called and wrote to
CBS 2 HD and WCBSTV.Com 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 CBS 2, 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 these mission quite often.
Here are some other descriptions sent in
to WCBSTV.com by witnesses:
David Frank of Jersey City wrote: "I
work in 30 Hudson, which is the largest
building in NJ and is right on the water
facing the Statue of Liberty. I ran out
of the building after a stampede of
people began running out of the building
as they saw the jumbo jet being followed
by two fighter planes veer sharply
towards our building and climb right
over it. By the time I got outside, it
was coming around for its THIRD pass,
and I watched it level off below
building height over the water and then
once again veer sharply towards the
building. Several hundred of us began to
run away fearing for our lives before it
climbed steeply and flew over our
building. Whoever thought that this
'photo op' was a good idea should be
removed from command...why couldn't this
simply be done with Photo Shop?
Hollywood can create an entire
armageddon on film but the US military
can't photo shop a plane by the Statue
of Liberty?"
Patrick Kennell of NYC wrote: "We saw a
low-flying 747 buzz the Southwest edge
of Manhattan, at Battery Park City, with
a fighter jet appearing to chase it on
its left wing. At about Rector Street or
so, it took a hard left and looked to be
headed straight for Jersey City. It flew
over J.C., turned south, and continued
to climb over Newark. It left our sight,
only to return on the same path a second
time about five minutes later. It was
confusing and panicked the office. We
dialed 9-1-1 and considered whether to
evacuate. We were told by 9-1-1 that it
was 'authorized' to be there. We later
learned from your website, that it was
part of a DOD 'photo op.' NotifyNYC
advises it was 'part of an approved
federal activity.' To conduct a 'photo
op,' unwarned in advance to Lower
Manhattan residents and workers, in that
manner was completely irresponsible."
Nancy in Lower Manhattan wrote: "Our
building, One New York Plaza, was
evacuated, as were most of the high
rises in this area. How could the US
MILITARY think that NYers wouldn't be
alarmed by low-flying jets? Why was the
city not notified beforehand?"
Amy in Jersey City wrote: "I work in the
30 Hudson building in Jersey City on the
side that faces the Statue of Liberty.
Our group is on one of the top floors
and needless to say we probably had some
of the best views of this incident. We
were conducting work as normal when all
of a sudden we see this huge commercial
plane coming at us. People were ducking
and on the floor because it came so
close. The plane flew right over us and
couldn't have missed the building by
more than 100 feet. Then we heard people
scream it was coming back. The plane
literally looked like it was going to
barrel into our building coming straight
at us until it turned upwards at the
last minute. I can't believe I saw the
underbelly of a plane fly over me. When
it started coming back a 3rd time, we
ran for the stairs. It's safe to say we
are pretty angry about having to
evacuate and go down 30+ flights of
stairs for a 'photo shoot.' What a start
to the week."
Stay with wcbstv.com and CBS 2 HD for
more on this developing story.
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