Low-flying plane causes scare in NYC

Posted at 1:06 PM on April 27, 2009 by Ken Paulman (2 Comments)

So, let's say you're walking around Manhattan, and a low-flying 747 zooms overhead followed by a couple of fighter jets.

Would you panic?

Some people did when that very scenario actually played out over New York City today, according to WABC-TV.

According to the report, the Defense Department was conducting "a aerial photo mission" over the city. The military duly notified the FAA as well as city and local officials of what they were up to, but much of the public didn't know what was going on.

As one commenter notes:

I think this was an absolutely thoughtless and irresponsible stunt. I lived through 9/11. I lost people, lived through the smell, lived through missing half our transit system. I left my apartment, saw the planes and the people in the street and was convinced this was real. How much do we have to live through?

Update: The New York Times City Room blog has a rather thorough post about the flyover. Interesting detail - the stock market dropped 40 points in the 15 minutes after the exercise started.

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Comments (2)

The money quote by Mr. Bloomberg.

"Why the Defense Department wanted to do a photo-op right around the site of the World Trade Center catastrophe defies imagination."

Posted by Colin | April 27, 2009 4:06 PM

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Someone should tell the Defense Dept. about Photoshop. MUUUUUUUCH cheaper and less disruptive.

Posted by Jeff | April 28, 2009 8:10 AM

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