President Barack Obama's spare Air Force One plane and two fighter jets buzzed lower Manhattan skyscrapers on Monday for a photo op, sparking panic in New York and prompting a White House apology.
The search for the perfect picture beside famous New York landmarks backfired as frightened office workers fled their buildings in fear of a new 9/11 and triggered an angry outburst from Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who said he had not been warned about the photo shoot.
Bloomberg called the lack of notice about the fly-over near the site of the world's most famous terrorist attack "ridiculous and poor judgment."
The White House military office apologized after the 30-minute incident in which the customized presidential jumbo buzzed southern Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty in the Hudson River.
Stunned office workers who failed to spot the presidential markings feared a repeat of the September 11, 2001 attacks in which two hijacked airliners smashed into the World Trade Center, killing almost 3,000 people.
"I saw everybody running and I ran out too. My heart is still pounding," said commodities trader Jurgens Bauer.
Bauer said that his room had no window so he had not seen the plane -- which is painted white with a blue nose and blue stripe -- but that the terror was real.
"I was there on 9/11, I saw thousands of people die. I don't like when I am not aware of a military photo op," he said.
Local NY1 television said it had received "multiple phone calls from residents fearing an incident reminiscent of September 11."
Why would the Us Military allow this , its a no fly zone , why right over the World Trade center, its really disturbing that this was allowed .. was it the "real mission accomplished"? Please discuss... Rate this posting:
2 comments:
This was one bonehead idea! Prior to seeing this video I wasn't sure, but now that I have I think that I would have been terrified if I had been there. Heads should roll on this one!
There's way more to this than meets the eye.
Post a Comment