CHUD.com Community › Forums › POLITICS & RELIGION › Political Discourse › Air Force One terrorizes NY City
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Air Force One terrorizes NY City

post #1 of 29
4/28/09 at 1:51am
Thread Starter 
Somebody is going to get fired over this ...

"A 'Classified' Photo Op Turns Into a Soaring Blunder for the White House"
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124084127590859371.html

Video of flyby by Goldman Sachs Tower
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn0tMMYEkQU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TPjJ4PXXMc
Reply
post #2 of 29
4/28/09 at 2:00am
As a conservative I want to get out in front of this a little and point out that I believe this is exactly the kind of "bonehead move" that happens from time to time. Whoever is in office at the time has the pleasure of eating a crap salad because of it and some low level person(s) get kicked to the curb. Also, the political party that is out of power will seize on to it as proof of some greater character flaw. It's not. Is it a dumb move that makes some look bad? Sure. Is this proof that Obama is a communist? NO. Everyone knows his bowling score proves he's a Fig Fat Commie!
Reply
post #3 of 29
4/28/09 at 2:02am
Reply
post #4 of 29
4/28/09 at 2:17am
A low flying 747 in New York City being followed by fighter jets...and yet no one thought it would cause panic? God someone is getting fired over this. That first youtube video says it all.
Reply
post #5 of 29
4/28/09 at 2:35am
Jesus wept.

Someone is getting fired, then re-hired just so they can get fired all over again for this monumental cock up.
Reply
post #6 of 29
4/28/09 at 3:26am
So much for the "tough" New Yorkers. Fucking sissies.

These are the same fools I had to push my way out of Manhattan with on September 11th while they declared to the news crews how the only good Arab was a dead one.
Reply
post #7 of 29
4/28/09 at 4:40am
Probably just viral marketing for the 'Escape from New York' reboot...
Reply
post #8 of 29
4/28/09 at 6:32am
I know this might just be the definition of a wasteful culture, but sending up a 747 and accompanying fighter jet for half hour just to take a photo?

Why didn't they take the photo while the plane was on the ground?
Reply
post #9 of 29
4/28/09 at 6:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bees?! View Post
Why didn't they take the photo while the plane was on the ground?
Action shots!

For example:


...but more jet-like and flying-in-the-air and stuff.
Reply
post #10 of 29
4/28/09 at 6:55am
I understand the concept of making an attractive photo. My point was that it was particularly wasteful if all they wanted was "to update their photo files."
Reply
post #11 of 29
4/28/09 at 6:57am
Good point, CGI-ing in some NYC (or at least Toronto) would have to be cheaper than what this is costing them.
Reply
post #12 of 29
4/28/09 at 9:08am
Thread Starter 
"Plane stupid: Mayor Bloomberg outraged over military photo-op involving low-flying presidential jet"
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/...owflying_.html

Quote:
Just plane dumb.

A perfect storm of idiocy led to a frightening 9/11 flashback for thousands of New Yorkers Monday when a jumbo jet and an F-16 fighter jet buzzed lower Manhattan without warning.

A "furious" Mayor Bloomberg denounced the dunces who dreamed up the stunt - and the NYPD officials and bureaucrats who never told him about it.

By day's end, an obscure City Hall deputy named Marc Mugnos, who makes $60,000 a year, was taking the fall for not telling Bloomberg that the low-flying planes were coming. He was reprimanded.

But there was plenty of blame to go around.

Louis Caldera, the director of the White House military office who sent Air Force One and the fighter jet on an "aerial photo mission," got slammed by an angry President Obama.

"I approved a mission over New York," Caldera said in a hastily prepared statement. "I apologize and take responsibility for any distress that flight caused."

Obama was not on the flight.

Sources said the chief reason for the panic-inducing flight was to create souvenir pictures of Air Force One flying over the Statue of Liberty to be given out - like a presidential tie clip - to family, friends or supporters.

Air Force One has done flyovers of historic sites and monuments like Mount Rushmore and the Golden Gate Bridge for PR glam shots - at taxpayer expense.

Told to stay quiet about mission

Caldera did not state a reason for the "mission" in his apology, but he insisted that "federal authorities took the proper steps to notify state and local authorities in New York and New Jersey."

NYPD Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne said the department was told of the "aerial photo mission" last Thursday but was ordered to stay quiet about it. But they did alert 911 operators at 7 a.m. to tell callers it was an authorized military mission, he said.

Bloomberg said he found out that his city was being buzzed by planes when his BlackBerry began buzzing with complaints.

"I'm annoyed - furious is a better word - that I wasn't told," the mayor said. "If I had known about it, I would have called them right away and asked them not to."

The planes appeared on the horizon around 10 a.m. and sent a chill through the city.

Flying in as low as 1,000 feet to 1,500 feet above New York City, they circled the Statue of Liberty before flying over Manhattan, Staten Island and New Jersey.

Before they vanished, hundreds of frightened people had jammed emergency phone lines, and thousands of terrified people evacuated from buildings in the city and across the river in New Jersey.

"I was crying and praying to God to forgive me my sins because I thought I was going to get killed," said Kathleen Filandro, who fled from 1New York Plaza when she spotted the planes.

"It's like someone coming up to you, sticking a gun to your head for 15 seconds, walking away and hearing 20 minutes later it was an undercover cop posing for a photo," said Wall Street worker Bill Privett.

"I am still shaking," he said.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs appeared taken aback as reporters peppered him with questions about the incident.

"I have no information beyond what I saw" on news reports, Gibbs said at his afternoon press conference.

A short time later, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel tracked down Caldera and "relayed the President's displeasure," sources said.

"The President was furious," a White House insider said.

Mugnos, who is the city's director of operations for the Office of Citywide Event Coordination and Management, could not be reached for comment.

The Federal Aviation Administration said it notified Mugnos - as well as the NYPD and the New Jersey State Police - on April 22 about the planned flyover.

The flyover involved one of the customized Boeing 747s that serves as Air Force One when the President is aboard.
I'm surprised Caldera still has a job.
Reply
post #13 of 29
4/28/09 at 9:47am
Dumb move and all, but this:

Quote:
It's like someone coming up to you, sticking a gun to your head for 15 seconds, walking away and hearing 20 minutes later it was an undercover cop posing for a photo
is unbelievably melodramatic. Is this really the first time a plane has flown low over Manhattan since 9/11? I somehow doubt it.
Reply
post #14 of 29
4/28/09 at 10:25am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ian View Post
Dumb move and all, but this:



is unbelievably melodramatic. Is this really the first time a plane has flown low over Manhattan since 9/11? I somehow doubt it.
Yes, probably, since the WTC area was restricted air even before 9/11. For what it's worth, I work right next to Ground Zero and didn't notice a damn thing until I saw it on the news. Not sure what that says about my building's security.

I'm thinking the logic here was that there was some security risk to Air Force One in doing a low flyover, so they only wanted to inform the necessary authorities. Essentially there was no good way to execute this and they should have scrapped the whole endeavor.
Reply
post #15 of 29
4/28/09 at 10:28am
Planes don't really have a path over lower Manhattan. JFK and LaGuardia airports are in Queens and most planes fly in from the Atlantic Ocean through Brooklyn. The plane was also circling the city for like a half hour, which no commercial airline would do so low to the ground. I agree some people are over reacting, but this wasn't an every day sighting. People were going to react.
Reply
post #16 of 29
4/28/09 at 10:28am
Thread Starter 
But the president wasn't on board. I guess at a minimum they could have let the Mayor know and announce it hours before?

But yeah ... they shouldn't have done it in the first place.
Reply
post #17 of 29
4/28/09 at 10:28am
Isn't it obvious, President Obama wanted to know, If Pigs could fly, and if one did, the F-16 was there to shoot it down, just in case it (the pig) had swine flu.
Reply
post #18 of 29
4/28/09 at 10:42am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ElCapitanAmerica View Post
But the president wasn't on board. I guess at a minimum they could have let the Mayor know and announce it hours before?

But yeah ... they shouldn't have done it in the first place.
Yeah, still, even without the President on board they probably don't like to give people a heads up about when and where one of the Air Force One planes will be in Stinger missile range. (No snark implied there, I just assume they take many of the same precautions with or without the President.)

Short public notice probably would have been the best of bad options though.
Reply
post #19 of 29
4/28/09 at 11:06am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Count Floyd View Post
Yeah, still, even without the President on board they probably don't like to give people a heads up about when and where one of the Air Force One planes will be in Stinger missile range. (No snark implied there, I just assume they take many of the same precautions with or without the President.)

Short public notice probably would have been the best of bad options though.
You could have said "Air Force Exercises" without mentioning specifically, Air Force "one"*.. or "Aerial Maneuvers" or whatever the fuck they wanted to say and given ample notice.

* I don't know off the top of my head what they call it when the President isn't in it.
Reply
post #20 of 29
4/28/09 at 6:25pm
http://wcbstv.com/topstories/air.for....2.996457.html

Oh those crazy Feds...
Reply
post #21 of 29
4/28/09 at 6:35pm
...so WHO was taking the photos?
The guys in the F-16's?
Reply
post #22 of 29
4/28/09 at 6:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Graham View Post
...so WHO was taking the photos?
The guys in the F-16's?
Typically. Since they are more stable than other planes and can maneuver to odd angles in order to get just the right shot.
Reply
post #23 of 29
4/28/09 at 6:44pm
Either way Im sure it was a good use of the money we spent on it.

Seriously, why do we need publicity photos? Are they trying to sell the fuggin thing?
Reply
post #24 of 29
4/28/09 at 7:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Closer View Post
Seriously, why do we need publicity photos? Are they trying to sell the fuggin thing?
Aircrews or squadron COs sign them and give them to organizations or people that help them out or provide exceptionally good service. They also sign 'em and give 'em to kids they visit in hospitals and people at air shows.
Reply
post #25 of 29
4/28/09 at 7:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankCobretti View Post
Aircrews or squadron COs sign them and give them to organizations or people that help them out or provide exceptionally good service. They also sign 'em and give 'em to kids they visit in hospitals and people at air shows.
Well, don't that just make me feel all warm and cuddly!

DUCK!!!!
Reply
post #26 of 29
4/28/09 at 10:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankCobretti View Post
Aircrews or squadron COs sign them and give them to organizations or people that help them out or provide exceptionally good service.
"Help them out"? Help them out how, exactly? "Thanks for helping me move, Bob. Here's a picture of Air Force One over a crowd of panicked New Yorkers. I signed it so it's special."

Although that particular shot would be a prize, the pint is the standard currency when it comes to that sort of physical labour on behalf of others.
Reply
post #27 of 29
4/29/09 at 7:02am
Quote:
Air Force One has done flyovers of historic sites and monuments like Mount Rushmore and the Golden Gate Bridge for PR glam shots - at taxpayer expense.
Fuck them. Talented Photoshop artists are a dime a dozen.

This was a really stupid idea, and someone should have known it was going to upset/scare the shit out of people.
Reply
post #28 of 29
4/29/09 at 8:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Seabass Inna Bun View Post
"Help them out"? Help them out how, exactly?
Oh, really good service at a BOQ, a local maintenance detachment staying up all night to fix a problem, someone going out of his or her way helping to make something happen. It's common to see these kinds of photos hanging up in lobbies, reception areas, and offices of the kinds of places military airplanes and aircrews go.

My squadron's photos were taken on deck. We couldn't justify launching a dedicated mission just to take a picture.
Reply
post #29 of 29
4/30/09 at 12:12am
Not just for moving furniture, no.

Anyway, I wonder how many people are going ape over what they will insist on perceiving as Obama's little stunt in New York. On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is stumping for Obama during the election and 10 is shooting policemen because you think they're coming to take you away as part of Obama's policy of firearm confiscation, I figure only the 8's and above will latch on to this for more than, say, three days.
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Political Discourse
CHUD.com Community › Forums › POLITICS & RELIGION › Political Discourse › Air Force One terrorizes NY City