Air Force One photo op causes thousands to flee NYC buildings in terror

[Tribesman]

Did thousands of people flee their offices in panic when the airliner made its landing in the river ?

[Vuk]

Did thousands of people flee their offices in panic when the airliner made its landing in the river ?

Are you going to compare the heroic efforts of a pilot to STOP a jet from crashing into buildings with the administration's wastefull and ill-considered decision to fly a massive jet that close to the site of such a disaster so that they could take some photos? Sorry Tribes, but it doesn't hold water. (no pun intended)

[HoreTore]

Are you going to compare the heroic efforts of a pilot to STOP a jet from crashing into buildings with the administration's wastefull and ill-considered decision to fly a massive jet that close to the site of such a disaster so that they could take some photos? Sorry Tribes, but it doesn't hold water. (no pun intended)

Uhm..... What? I'm pretty sure you missed the point completely...

Forget the pilots, they have nothing to do with it, unless of course you believe that the people in tall buildings are able to read his mind. So, what we have are two situations of a low-flying aircraft in NYC. This one caused panic. Did the other one cause panic? If not, why not? Or rather, why did this one cause a stir?

It's not like anyone can look at a low-flying plane and say "oh my, that's a brave and heroic pilot about to save a dozen or lives", or "oh my, Obama's out flashing his cash again"....

[Vuk]

Uhm..... What? I'm pretty sure you missed the point completely...

Forget the pilots, they have nothing to do with it, unless of course you believe that the people in tall buildings are able to read his mind. So, what we have are two situations of a low-flying aircraft in NYC. This one caused panic. Did the other one cause panic? If not, why not? Or rather, why did this one cause a stir?

It's not like anyone can look at a low-flying plane and say "oh my, that's a brave and heroic pilot about to save a dozen or lives", or "oh my, Obama's out flashing his cash again"....

I am pretty sure that there WAS a lot of panic with the Hudson case, but it was over really quickly, where as Obama's jet circled for a long time and people had no idea what was gonna happen.

[Xiahou]

Did thousands of people flee their offices in panic when the airliner made its landing in the river ?

I'm pretty sure some were frightened, but the scale is a little different. A 747 is more than 100ft longer, 80ft wider and weighs about 10x as much as an A320.

Also, if you're going to be scaring people, I think that an actual emergency is a far better reason than a photo op. I mean, plane crashes usually do involve people being scared- almost by definition.

[Vuk]

I'm pretty sure some were frightened, but the scale is a little different. A 747 is more than 100ft longer, 80ft wider and weighs about 10x as much as an A320.

Also, if you're going to be scaring people, I think that an actual emergency is a far better reason than a photo op. I mean, plane crashes usually do involve people being scared- almost by definition.

My point exactly (though more eloquently put to be sure). Also, do think of the time difference. The A320 wooshed by and that was all. The 747 was circling for a long time, giving plenty of people a chance to see it, and no doubt making wonder about its purpose.

[Louis VI the Fat]

I saw this on the news. Incredible. Who in their right mind would think that flying around a huge airplane below skyscraper level in NY would be a good idea!? Without proper notification of the populace? What, they were on Mars the past decade and missed the news or something?


The News of the Weird thread carried a similar story about Sydney, (Melbourne?) some time ago. I think it was a military excersize involving a low flying aircraft over Sydney harbour, without proper advance notification. It created a lot of panic, anger afterwards. That's the other side of the world. To pull this stunt in lower Manhattan beggers belief.

So who in the administration thought this was a good idea, and why aren't they fired?

Who? Someone in the lower levels of the air force. Apparantly, this someone still followes the directives of the Bush' administration. Namely, that in the interest of 'Homeland Security' the balance between governmental secrecy and citizen's rights should be unreasonably shifted towards the government.

Obama is furious. Rightfully so. I even wonder, did someone in the air force pull this stunt to obstruct the administration? I mean, their explanation for the order of secrecy is that they hoped to keep this secret. That is, fly in, get a picture, and be gone without anybody noticing it. Like, nobody would notice a low flying 747?

Maybe the hope was that, as always, in some time the details of a story will be forgotten. And that all that would linger in the public's memory is 'Obama's plane circling around NY for fun!!1! Insensitive! Obama administration has no respect for 9-11! Unpatriotic! Obama doesn't care for homeland security!'

[Husar]

I'm pretty sure some were frightened, but the scale is a little different. A 747 is more than 100ft longer, 80ft wider and weighs about 10x as much as an A320.

So you mean the president's machine would be even easier to identify from the ground? Or does noone in the US know what the air force one looks like?

[Vuk]

So you mean the president's machine would be even easier to identify from the ground? Or does noone in the US know what the air force one looks like?

Look at the picture at the top of the page and tell me, if you were that guy, do you think that you would have recognised it?

[Tribesman]

I'm pretty sure some were frightened, but the scale is a little different. A 747 is more than 100ft longer, 80ft wider and weighs about 10x as much as an A320.

So the 320 is more like the planes used on 9/11 then