FAA says low-flying plane over Staten Island is 'pre-planned' flight to take photos

http://www.silive.com/news/index ^

[LottieDah]

FAA says low-flying plane over Staten Island is 'pre-planned' flight to take photos by Staten Island Advance Monday April 27, 2009, 10:03 AM

A plane, that appears to be a commercial jet tailed by fighter jets, is a "pre-planned" military flight taking photos of the Statue of Liberty, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Reports indicate it may be Air Force One.

"It is pre-planned, pre-coordinated with everyone involved," said FAA spokesman Jim Peters. "It's a military flight over New York to take photos."

Peters, who stressed it is not an emergency, said the flight is circling the Statue of Liberty and New York City to take photos.

Peters said city officials as well as state government agencies in New York and New Jersey were briefed on the flight in advance.

[Velveeta]

Reports are that thousands evacuated.

Here's a pic from twitter regarding 1NY Plaza beginning evacuations:

IMO, if the reports of a "photo shoot" are accurate, it was an highly irresponsible act to the people of NY who were left shaking.

[Kakaze]

The whole stunt smells to high heaven!

[novemberslady]

Bloomberg can explain to the people of NY why he and his administration didn't warn them so that they wouldn't be terrified.

Of course if he didn't know that would explain a lot.

[surfer]

Yeah they were probably spraying a clear mist from the 747...watch the swine flu explode in NYC now...

and yes I am wearing my tin foil hat. :)

I am just saying...

[hudsonohio]

Bush’s Fault

[VA40]

W.T.F.

I just went to CNN and Fox web sites and there is nothing there. This is not a major news story? God help us. Can anyone confirm Obama was not on this plane? I want to know where he is.

[angcat]

OMG when did this happen?

[OneVike]

You have an interesting train of thought going there. The possibilities and the ramifications of photo shopping something like this are endless.

Especially when you take into consideration the number of Americans who still do not believe that 911 was the fault of the people who did it, or even the ones that think the moon landing was a hoax pulled off in a Hollywood studio.

Are you and your husband Viking Fans?

By the way I did add you to my ping list, thanks for the request. It is always heartening to see people request to be added and not removed. LOL

[blackie]

We are truly blessed to have Zer0 messiah leading us!

[LachlanMinnesota]

Even the IMAX photography is done with an helicopter. Why such a large jet for pictures?

Why a fighter escort?

I call BS on the official explanation.

More likely checking for biohazards and possible attack.

[Wil H]

Very wierd. First, why do they need pictures? Second, why do they need pictures taken from one of the AF-1 jets, and not some other jet? Third, why didn’t they let people know they would be doing this?

Nothing "wierd" at all, you are being totally paranoid.

They "need" the pictures because they are constantly requested.

Every airport that AF 1 lands at generally requests a commemorative photo of the plane often signed by the pilot to personalize it, so they can display it proudly somewhere. So the flyby was done to get a photo of AF 1 with The Statue of Liberty in the background. The camera equipped F-16's would be the ones doing the photography in this case.

There is NOTHING odd or suspicious about this, it's not even an 0bama issue. In fact we should all be pleased they didn't decide to photograph the plane over Mecca as the official AF 1 portrait.

[anonsquared]

If they wanted a picture of the plane near the Statue of Liberty, why didn’t they just Photoshop it and save the taxpayers the million+ dollars this probably cost?

[Ditto]

Coming soon to a campaign commercial near you.

[LottieDah]

“...More likely checking for biohazards and possible attack.”

Is this the “test” Joe Biden wa referring to?

[Malsua]

Maybe they wanted a pic of the AF-1 flying over the statue of liberty? For an ad about how O is bringing liberty back to our nation?

My thoughts exactly. 0 wants a propaganda photo. Air Force 1, Statue of Liberty and a grinning Kenyan in the foreground.

[CitizenM]

First, why do they need pictures? Second, why do they need pictures taken from one of the AF-1 jets, and not some other jet? Third, why didn’t they let people know they would be doing this?

Great questions...let me add a Fourth:

JUST WHO IS PAYING FOR THE PLANE'S FLIGHT COSTS? TAXPAYERS! For a supposed "PHOTO OP."

If that is true, the administration should be tarred and feathered! How many of Obama's poor supporters could be fed with the dollars it cost to fly that plane. They should be up in revolt. But, probably most of those welfare recipients are still in bed and have no idea about this...not up and working like the rest of the world.

[Velveeta]

It’d be interesteding to know if Bloomberg knew.

Obviously, the cops and Port Authority did NOT know.

[Velveeta]

It’d be interesting to know if Bloomberg knew.

Obviously, the cops and Port Authority did NOT know.

[Ditto]

"...somebody wanted to take pics of Air Force One flying past the Statue of Liberty...

That 'somebody' must be pretty powerful to get the USAF to be his advertising agency.

[Velveeta]

FOX news mentioned it about 20 minutes ago.