White House apologizes for Obama plane's NY flyover

[Tab]

Source: AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The White House apologized Monday after one of Barack Obama's presidential planes flew alarmingly low over New York city, sending residents into a panic and triggering fears of a new 9/11.

"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," said Louis Caldera, director of the White House military office.

"I apologize and take responsibility for any distress that flight caused," he said in a statement, adding that he approved the mission over New York -- described by other officials as a photo opportunity -- last week.

"I take responsibility for that decision," he added.

The mea culpa could be seen as extraordinary, given the infrequency of public statements by the White House military office and the bluntness of the apology over the bungle.

Caldera described it as an "Air Force One flight over New York," although that designation is strictly used to describe the specific plane on which the US president is flying.

The White House said Obama was not on the flight.

The jumbo, escorted by low-flying fighter jets, roared over southern Manhattan and the Hudson River for about 30 minutes, prompting panicked New Yorkers to evacuate office buildings.

A livid New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he had not been warned and called the lack of notice "ridiculous and poor judgment."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090427/pl_afp/usmilitaryaviationexerciseapology

---

It was a White House plane??

Wonder what Fox will make of that....

[bitchkitty]

1. Why?

The article doesn't say why they found it necessary to do this. Curious...

[Muttocracy]

2. I'm with Bloomberg, all this for a photo op, and no notice?! nt

[asksam]

77. Bloomberg's a Repug*

I don't necessarily believe him when he says that he had no notice.

Perhaps a chance to feign outrage and make the president look bad?



* Yeah, I know he's an indie now, but he was one and might go back to being a Repug for the upcoming election.

[onehandle]

3. We've been hit!

Cheney was right!

Glad that's over. Next...

[NashVegas]

4. Wait. If Local Authorities Were Notified

Why was local media not notified, or, choose to ignore it if they were?

[aquart]

16. Because the notification was CLASSIFIED, can you believe it?

[NashVegas]

46. Nope

What dumbasses!

[rocktivity]

49. CLASSIFIED? It didn't occur to ANYONE

that a low-flying plane pursued by military aircraft over a major city wouldn't be NOTICED by the citizenry?

I don't buy the photo-op story for a second, of course. Something else was going on--some kind of drill, perhaps?

And I thought that stupidity in Boston couldn't be topped...

:mad:
rocktivity

[Xithras]

57. All AF-1 flights are classified to protect the President.

Generally speaking, the flight path of AF-1 is only released to those who "need to know" to prevent colissions with other planes. They don't announce the flight plans of the plane to the public because they don't want some nut waiting under that flight path to take potshots at it, or flying out in a small plane to get in the way.

Even though Obama was not on board, the plane DOES carry him and has to be protected from potential threats.

[NashVegas]

75. I Agree, It's Gotta Be Bullshit

If we have a drill at our local airport we make sure everyone in Nashville knows all about it.

NYC? Does not pass the freaking smell test.

[LSparkle]

5. This was clearly a mistake ... Why NOT let the public know?

Is it all THAT important that the ads or other presentations
that may feature this footage be a "surprise" to the public?
Who cares if the public was aware that AF1 would be flying
over NYC? Better for the public to know about it and not
panic ... Also, at least they couldn't be accused of using
CGI to create the shots.

:scratchesheadinbewilderment:

[high density]

13. Who cares?

Not to sound like Cheney, but AF1 is quite the target for terrorists whether Obama is on it or not. There is no need to give them advance notice of where it's going to be, especially when visiting NYC.

[sledgehammer]

26. They never had to say it was AF1

All they had to say is that there will be some low-altitude planes from 10:00 to 10:30 on Monday morning. No reason to be alarmed as it is a planned operation. They could have even released this info no earlier than Sunday night.

No mention of AF1 or fighter jets, and with minimal advance notice there's no way it would be a target.

[jody]

6. The White House needs more adult leaders, that's obvious. n/t

[boomerbust]

10. May I suggest

Cowardly Anti-American Alabama Senator Richard Beauregard Shelby.(R)

[jody]

11. If Obama has no one other than Shelby to choose as you imply, then he has a lot of stupid supporters

from which to appoint people to his staff.

[marshall]

19. It's funny when they pick out the wrong DVD's for the Prime Minister

Something like this is NOT funny.

What next?

[jody]

20. My guess is newbies are not listening to the old-hands who probably anticipated this debacle. n/t

[marshall]

21. That sounds logical

I do think it's good that Obama is giving a place to up and coming new faces. They are the voice of the future. But they do have to find a way to ease these people into power while keeping them tethered to more experienced trainers.

[jody]

24. Have people forgotten about the horrible mess Bush created in Iraq by sending kids just out of

college to work with the State Department to bring Democracy and U.S. capitalism to Iraq?

I laughed at the time at the sheer stupidity of the exercise and wept because so much money was wasted by arrogant youngsters who only had book learning.

I'll probably get several angry posts by young DUers but I was young once and also full of myself.

[peace13]

7. This is 100% bull!

What purpose would photos of the presidents plane serve?
When have we ever seen the presidents plane used for a photo opp?
Who in the White House would think that this was a good idea?

If I had to bet, this is a clear message to Obama from the Cheneyites. Obama apologizes for the fear that was caused not the flight itself. If this truly came from the White House then there should be some heads roll. If not we need to see who called this shot.

[onenote]

34. the cheneyites are running the white house?

How is a flight authorized by the White House Military Office -- an office headed by an Obama appointee who previously served as Secretary of the Army under Bill Clinton -- a message from the Cheneyites to Obama?

[peace13]

44. Answer the questions before asking one.

There was no good reason to fly that jet over NY, none. You can see the result and it was very effective in scaring NYers and bringing the 911 panic back to the front page. This worked against the Obama admin 100% and Obama would not have suggested it. Someone in the WH may have authorized it but that does not make it Obama's idea. Time will tell but I am certain that there is a story behind this imbecilic demonstration. Note to self, just because someone worked under Bill Clinton does not make them on the team today.

[onenote]

47. Answers and my question restated

What purpose would photos of the presidents plane serve?
For press purposes, they WH maintains file photos of AF1 in flight. One of the more famous ones shows AF1 flying over Mt.Rushmore.

When have we ever seen the presidents plane used for a photo opp?
See above

Who in the White House would think that this was a good idea?
Someone who wasn't thinking about the possible reaction to an unannounced flyover of lower Manhattan. The question isn't so much who as how -- how could they have not thought about it? Well, the simplest answer is typically the correct one -- they fucked up, badly. Compare how this was handled to an announcement that was made in DC a few weeks ago about a planned explosion near one of the bridges into the city as part of the filming of a TV pilot. The announcement, which turned out to be quite exagerrated in terms of what the explosion really was going to be like, garnered a great deal of publicity and was widely reported on tv, radio, etc. in advance. In the end, I think that if thos in charge hadn't so badly handled publicizing the flyover, one of two things would have happened: it would have been cancelled or there would have been enough publicity as to avoid the kind of panic we saw.

So, to be clear -- I am not in any way condoning the way this was handled. It was a major fuck up. But the fact that it was a major fuck up doesn't mean that it was orchestrated by "cheneyites" hidden in the white house. And for the record, I never, ever said this was Obama' idea.

Now, the shoe returns to your foot: do you honestly believe that Louis Caldera is a secret "cheneyite". Do you honestly believe that the WH vetting process is so poor that Obama would have put into a senior staff position a "cheneyite"? Does it matter to you that Caldera not only served under Bill Clinton, but that over the past decade he has made several thousand dollars in political contributions, exclusively to Democratic candidates including Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Kerry?

[peace13]

48. Ok, I like your Mt. Rushmore point.

It is a little different to photo op the Presidential plane over one of the biggest man made disasters to hit US mainland. If they thought that those pictures would be of any value they were dead wrong. I don't care if this guy worked with Kerry, who did not count the Ohio votes or stand up to the machine, or Hillary Clinton, who seemed to do her damnedest to dishonor Obama throughout the election process. As for Bill Clinton, he is traveling around with * for some PR stunt that is not altogether clear.

Let's be clear, Cheney is still a player. He works his hardest to discredit this admin. We do not know how far his reach is at this time. We just don't know. So many things that I thought could never happen have. Maybe Louis did not do it but is admitting that he did to save face, even that is a possibility. Without such an admission it would look like Obama is not in control right now. This is a big thing to me and I would not cross off any options at this point.

Think about it. The Air Force, one of the most renegade services, as far as the Christian right wing infiltration goes, the group who illegally ferried nukes across the country last summer ( or was it two summers ago), creates this photo op that makes Obama look awful. 911 is used by the 'Cheney group' today, after all these years to try and recreate the terror, mental torture so to speak, in the minds of Americans. This 'Photo op' fits in with his mode of operation. (Don't slam me on the Air Force comments I have three family members in there and my sister just got back from Iraq)

What we do know is that Obama has said before that he does not want to talk about things until he knows what he is talking about. If and when he can explain, he will. I think the right thing for Louis to do is resign. If Obama gave permission to do this then he is not the thinking man that I believe him to be. If Obama were to say that he signed off on this stunt then I would be truly disgusted.

Don't get me wrong, I worked my butt off for Obama, I think he is our best shot out of this mess, but I do not think he is infallible. He is a human who makes mistakes. I have seen some already. In this instance however, I think that someone else is working to make him look like a fool or possibly threatening the safety of the New Yorkers as well as the safety of the President. Call it tin foil, I don't' care. I will keep my options open. Thanks for the conversation. Peace, Kim

[Psephos]

64. The White House Military Office is a political agency, not in the DoD chain of command

Which moots your suspicions about the "renegade" Air Force and its "Christian right wing infiltration." Whether that's true or not, this incident was conceived and administered by the White House. As a side note, I might add that the "renegade Christian right wing Air Force" had one of the F-16's vertical stabilizers painted orange-red in salute to the Tuskegee Airmen, who used that insignia in WWII. Must be a secret plot to fool us from learning what they're "really" like. :eyes:

Look, this incident was dumb, and avoidable. So is invoking Darth Cheney or the conspiracy de jour. People can accept mistakes. They won't accept weaseling and cover-up. So let's admit - HORRORS - that the Administration made a mistake and then get on with life as before. It's not that big of a deal.

FYI, after the WTC attack, Bush changed the head of the Military Office from a political appointment to a Defense Department post. (I.e., under Bush, it WAS in the DoD chain of command.) A number of active-duty admirals held the post. The idea was that the Military Office should be more "go" and less "show" in the aftermath of 9-11.

There are a couple of thousand people in the military whose jobs involve them directly in the presidency, from the nuke-code "football" people to the Marines who guard the doors of the White House, along with many more you never think about. The head of the Military Office coordinates all of it.

Obama elected to switch the post back to a political job. I remember reading warnings at the time this wasn't a great idea. But I'm sure there are others who can argue the opposite. Personally, I'm always wary of political appointments vs. career technocrats.

[wordpix]

71. I call bullshit, too, on AF1 photo op. I am guessing some kind of security test

was the real reason this happened. Maybe the WH is testing secrecy, letting only a few people know of classified info and seeing if the info remains classified.

Just a guess, mind you.

[someone else]

8. How much did this photop cost? n/t

[Psephos]

65. $328,000

http://wcbstv.com/topstories/air.force.one.2.996457.html

Could have bought Photoshop and saved $327,500.

[wordpix]

72. WTF!!!! What a WASTE of money! Could have cleaned up some PCB's in the Hudson for that

[LynnTheDem]

9. So bloomberg says he wasn't told. Hmmm...

"It is pre-planned, pre-coordinated with everyone involved," said FAA spokesman Jim Peters, pointing out that city and state officials were notified in advance. "It's a military flight over New York to take photos."
http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/04/nypd_directed_not_to_divulge_i.html

[No Elephants]

31. And? That says nothing about Bloomberg's having been notified.

[RebelOne]

12. Was the apology on nationwide TV?

if not, those dumb asses should have made a public apology on all the TV stations.

[bertman]

14. Apparently there was a massive outbreak of Stupid Flu in the White House Military Office.

Was this guy Caldera appointed by Cheney to undermine Obama? He couldn't have made the government look stupider if he'd tried.

Bye bye, Mr. Caldera.

[24601]

23. Lou Caldera is no plant. A 1978 West Point Graduate, he

was Bill Clinton's Secretary of the Army. Even good guys screw up.

[No Elephants]

33. A Clinton retread in Obama's administration. What a novelty.

[Renew Deal]

41. People that bash Obama for anything and everything aren't a novelty either.

:eyes:

[heronkid]

76. Fire Caldera;

This shows a clear problem with this person's judgment.
First you have the idea, then the confidentiality request to the various officials and finally the cost.

Get this guy away from Obama's administration now before he causes us any more political damage that we can't afford.

[tomm2thumbs]

15. They were testing to see if Bo the dog gets 'car sickness' on planes

The answer is - yes, but only when veering around the torch counter-clockwise

[pjt7]

17. Somebody should

lose their job.

[WestSeattle2]

18. Amazingly stupid....

"Hey, I have a fab idea for a photo shoot, let's go to the scene of the London subway bombings and set off M-100's!"......

[rocktivity]

22. And if Caldera believes his explanation is convincing

I've got a bridge in Brooklyn he might want to buy!

:rofl:
rocktivity

[RedCloud]

25. Is Caldera now the worst person in the world?

Just asking.

[Reterr]

27. Delete.eom

[magellan]

28. Faux outrage?

Have you seen the video of people running for their lives? Perhaps you think their fright was faux as well. And please don't go out of your way to spare a thought for the people there who lost loved ones on 9/11.

[SlowDownFast]

29. Yep. Just in case anyone missed that video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn0tMMYEkQU&feature=channel_page

Whomever came up with this (and approved of it), was VERY, VERY STUPID.

[marshall]

55. The White House should have said it was like a fire drill

It certainly showed that the people of NYC are on their toes and ready to act in case of another emergency.

It was probably not a wise move, but I don't go for all this backtracking.

[wordpix]

73. I think it was one - the photo op explanation doesn't pass my BS meter

[AnOhioan]

30. Incredibly bad judgement...this will not help the President.

[CJCRANE]

38. ..but incredibly good for the neocons.

This couldn't have happened at a better time for them.

[No Elephants]

32. Caldera called it AF 1, but Obama was not on board? Can anyone explain that contradiction?

[14thColony]

59. You're correct

Without the president on board, it's just a VC-25 airlift aircraft with its wing's normal callsign. With the president on board it's a VC-25 aircraft with the call sign "Air Force One." The plane is always a VC-25, it just changes call signs depending on who's on board.

But colloquially both of the specially-configured VC-25s get called Air Force One by people (including in the Air Force) who don't know the difference or figure it's less confusing to just say Air Force One.

[Nihil]

35. Nice to see that "Change" hasn't impacted the American sense of perspective ...

It's a plane ... AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH TERRA TERRA TERRA!!!!

:eyes:

The "White House" now sees fit to "apologise" immediately for a plane
flying over a city but it still hasn't bothered apologising for the daily
murder of "foreign folks", the ongoing provisions of the P.A.T.R.I.O.T. acts,
the protection of financial gamblers, or the other 1001 *ISSUES* that they
are responsible for ... prefering to piss-ball about with press releases
to address the "outrage" of the well-conditioned sheeple.

:argh:

[jus_the_facts]

36. This photo op...seems much more like a psych op to me. especially since...

...there was a military escort with it...which was NOT the case on 9/11. :tinfoilhat: :argh:

[No Elephants]

Obama did all that in 100 days? & New Yorkers do not cry "terra" whenever they see a plane.

[Nihil]

45. Precisely ...

... he has done none of that in 100 days yet immediately issues
an apology for a bunch of dicks scared stupid of a plane.

BTW, you are correct: they didn't cry "Terra", they cried
"OHMYGOD! OHMYGOD!" (at least in the video clips that I've seen
used to show how "frightening" those damned airyplanes are ...

Like I said, no change in the American sense of perspective ... :eyes:

[Abq_Sarah]

68. What is your problem

That you either cannot see or refuse to see how a low flying 747 tailed by an F-16 just might possibly be seen as a threat to people living in Manhattan? Do you really think that just because President Obama has been elected the whole world looooves us and nothing bad will ever happen again?

Perhaps you need a little more compassion for the people who lived through the attacks in NY. They've been in the bulls eye.

[Nihil]

70. I'm not the one with the "problem"

Mind you, I'm not the one conditioned to think "TERRORISTS" when
I see a plane flying low over a city.


> Do you really think that just because President Obama has been
> elected the whole world looooves us and nothing bad will ever
> happen again?

Do you really think that 11-SEP-2001 was the first terrorist attack
in the world?

Do you really think that no-one else has been "in the bulls eye"?

If so, you are wrong on both points.

That day was a wake-up call to most Americans but that's only because
they have rarely given half a shit to the pain & suffering that they've
been causing and supporting (tacitly or actively) for decades.

The world really did have sympathy for you then: we could see the shock
that it caused, we could feel empathy because we have been in similar
situations - a terrorist attack out of the blue that kills and maims
innocent strangers for no justifiable reason - and we could understand
your fear (why us? what next?). Yet that was over eight years ago and
the rest of the world has moved on, across new waves of terror attacks,
through more unnecessary funerals, watching ever more pain caused in
the name of greed.


> you either cannot see or refuse to see how a low flying 747 tailed by
> an F-16 just might possibly be seen as a threat to people living in
> Manhattan?

Only by a completely irrational muppet.

By your "logic", I could never get on another London bus as the one I often
caught was ripped apart by a bomb.

By your "logic", I could never go into a tube station as my father-in-law
was nearly amongst the victims of a deadly fire years ago.

By your "logic", I could never catch another US internal flight as four
of them were hijacked once you know.

By your "logic", I could never visit a pub as people have blown them up
loads of times over the years (for all sorts of pathetic "causes").

It's a damn good job I don't live by your "logic" as I'd be turned into
one of those irrational muppets who was "demanding an apology from Obama".


> Perhaps you need a little more compassion for the people who lived
> through the attacks in NY. They've been in the bulls eye.

Welcome to the real world.

Everyone else has been there, done that and bought the gravestones.
Get over it - we all have.

[GKirk]

78. I'm a bit late to this thread but...

...you appear to be have very little compassion for what the people in NYC went through, why is that?.

The people in New York City weren't 'freaking out ' because they saw an airplane in the sky. They were freaking out because of what the airplanes were doing. What they saw was a passenger jet flying where passenger jets don't normally fly, with the added 'touch' of it appearing to be pursued by a fighter plane. It was a very reasonable assumption for them to make that this could well be a bad event unfolding in front of them.

I think this would be akin to somone accidentally driving the wrong way down an expressway shortly after someone deliberately drove the wrong one down one in order to cause maximum carnage.

[Psephos]

80. There's nothing more fundamental to the progressive mindset than empathy...and you show none

The more you explain your callousness the less you sound like someone worth a listen.

[CJCRANE]

37. It'll be interesting to see how this shakes out...

I have my suspicions...

[Blue_Tires]

39. ugh...talk about giving political gold to the opposition...

[14thColony]

40. 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!"

No, I'm not trying to get my conspiracy on, but the orange-red tail is something I simply cannot explain.

[didact]

43. ...that's interesting?

Hadn't heard that.

[peace13]

50. Do you have a link to the orange- red tail?

I find this very interesting but I can't find a video that is clear enough to see the color. It is funny because we know that many jets can be painted to look like 'Air Force One' as well. I feel that this was a photo op indeed, just not the one that we are lead to believe it was.

[14thColony]

56. Finally!

I was going crazy trying to find the pics.

Try this:
http://www.nypost.com/seven/04272009/news/regionalnews/obama_plane_photo_op_startles_new_yorker_166470.htm

and then click on the pic to get other pics. One or two show the red-orange tail clearly.

*****************************************
Edit: Hugo_from_TN further down appears to be correct. The red tail F-16 was probably a 100th Fighter Squadron (Alabama Air Guard) jet painted to commemorate the Red Tails of the 332nd Fighter Group (Tuskegee Airmen) of World War II. That appears to be a more plausible explanation. A 'one-off' specially-painted jet operated by a unit that carries on the traditions of the Tuskegee Airmen.

[peace13]

60. Thank you so much!

KO had a nice piece with Brian Williams this evening. Peace, Kim

[mr11]

61. Looks like it had been photoshop :/

[rocktivity]

51. Dupe, sorry n/t

.

[rocktivity]

52. Like I said, I don't buy the photo-op story for a second

I'm supposed to believe that how the Air Force takes aerial photos? On the other hand, if the flight were some kind of test to see how Air Force One would react under "stress," at least that's SOMEWHAT intelligible.

:headbang:
rocktivity

[hugo_from_TN]

53. The red tail is a tribute to the Tuskegee airmen

http://www.redtail.org/

Looks like a photo-op, probably related to the Tuskegee Airmen movie coming out later this year. I'm guessing they won't use the footage now.

[14thColony]

58. Darn, that was some obscure information!

Yep, appears to be a 100th/160th Fighter Squadron jet (Alabama ANG), painted with the 332nd Fighter Group's distinctive red tail from World War II. It's the squadron's commemorative jet for air displays, since they've been designated as the official heirs to the Tuskegee fighter squadrons' legacy.

Whew, glad that got figured out. My compliments to Tennessee.

[wordpix]

74. that would jive with my theory it was some kind of security test

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

42. *cough* There's a thing called Photoshop, morons.

[Night_Nurse]

63. Yeah, how hard would it be...

to take a photo of the Presidential jet and superimpose it over a photo containing the Statue of Liberty??

I'll bet any number of DUers could do a great job of it...

[Kablooie]

69. but then they wouldn't have the memories.

[lebkuchen]

54. When I think if photo ops, I think of "Mission Accomplished"

Best to drop all the fluff and move on with solving the country's problems.

[Night_Nurse]

62. I was thinking the same thing...

this stunt will go down in the history of stupid photo ops along w/"Mission Accomplished"... How could Obama not know about this ahead of time? It worries me that he doesn't know what his people are up to, especially when it involves the POTUS 747!

And it bears repeating - it's not called Air Force One unless the President is actually on board. There are two identical 747s, and they both act as "AF One", depending on which of the two planes the President is flying on. And when POTUS goes on a trip aboard one plane, the other plane also goes along - actually the plane not designated AF One goes ahead of the plane carrying the President - just in case.

[lynne]

66. 15 minutes with photo shop and they'd have their pic without all the $$$ and scaring people to death

- there is nothing logical about this at all. It makes no sense. How much did this one lousy picture cost US in the middle of a financial crisis???

[Night_Nurse]

67. The taxpayer tab: $328,835

The flight by the VC-25, a modified Boeing Co. 747, and two F-16 fighter jets cost $328,835, Air Force spokeswoman Vicki Stein said.

Three-Hour Mission

That includes $300,658 for the larger plane, which flew a three-hour mission, and about $28,178 for the F-16 jets, which flew 1.8 hours each, Stein said in an e-mailed statement.

The total includes fuel used in flight, fuel used to power ground equipment used to prepare the aircraft, and ground maintenance, Stein said.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said yesterday's flyover was "two training missions that became in the end a picture mission" and only Air Force personnel were aboard.

Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aHJlkHaApn4o&refer=home

[mdmc]

79. .

.

[Psephos]

81. Anyone else curious why they haven't released a manifest?

If I had made a dumb but honest mistake like that, it would be the first thing I'd do, precisely because it would disarm my critics.

There's more to this story that someone doesn't want told.