Blog Review : Air Force One Over NYC

I read Andy’s blog post regarding the Air Force one flyover incident that took place a week ago. The media sources have responded to the event by calling it a waste of taxpayer dollars. But, as Andy discusses in his post, the unannounced flyover caused panic and disruption for Manhattan and down town Jersey City citizens. For some unknown reason, the Air Force thought it needed some cool shots of the aircraft with New York City in the background. The 747 was said to be one of a small fleet of planes that are used as Air Force one for the president’s transport. The panic and fear were a result of the low altitude of the flight and the two f-16s that were accompanying the plane. Concerned citizens flooded operators with calls fearing an attack. Things would have much different if the public had knowledge of the flight before it took place. Apparently, the pentagon wanted to keep it a secret for safety reasons but never imagined it could cause an unsafe situation. Only the New Jersey State Police and NYPD were informed.
The flyover can fairly be called a waste of tax dollars. The money spent on fuel and the pilots could be spent getting something we need done. Do we really need those photos that bad? In addition to that, many citizens who worked in high rise buildings spent a good portion of their morning outside as they evacuated. On the bright side, things improved once people knew they were safe. As Andy mentioned, the stocks for the day had been declining until the fear was cleared up. Then they recovered. It just seems like bad joke to play on people who still remember what happened to their city about 8 years ago.