Feds cancel military flight over Hudson River, police say

AP_Pravda ^ | 5-11-09 | Staff

[VinL]

The Federal Aviation Administration today canceled a military flight scheduled to fly up the Hudson River, New York Police said.

A city notification system alerted the public to the flight, set for 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. The military plane was supposed to fly down and back up the Hudson River. The type of plane wasn't specified. [snip for photo]

Police said the flight had been previously scheduled, likely before the incident two weeks ago when a Boeing 747 used by the president flew over lower Manhattan and caused a brief panic in New York. A White House official resigned after the photo-op.

It isn't immediately clear why the FAA canceled the Monday flight.

[VinL]

I've always contended that the AF1 flyover was a military exercise- terror related.

If one will indulge the theory, does anyone have any thoughts on the purpose?

Might it be---how does the military shoot down a hijacked commercial airliner over NYC?

Vin

[Big_Monkey]

I think it was just a plain ‘ole publicity still. Forgive the pun, but shooting down a jumbo jet is not rocket science to the Air Force. All it takes is an AIM-9, probabably multiple AIM-9s depending upon the size and number of engines of the aircraft.

[SlowBoat407]

The PR stunt that crashed before takeoff.

[VinL]

Over a civilian population of millions, and a global financial center? -:)

[Big_Monkey]

"Over a civilian population of millions, and a global financial center? -:)

Here's where the post-9/11 SOP comes into play. Assuming that the aircraft didn't just take off from one the tri-state airports and arrive in the Manhattan airspace in just momments (in which case their isn't time to do anything), there would be F-16 pilots trailing the aircraft, perhaps for some time. The Air Force, and strategic defense command now has very clear intercept, identification, deterrent and if need be engagement and weapons release procedures in place.

Since 9/11,Air Force pilots that are in "sensitive" areas do practice these maneuvers with some regularity. Believe me, they don't need an actual jumbo jet, let alone a VC25-A to sharpen their skills.

[rightwingextremist1776]

When I was flying as a crew member on KC-130s out of Stewart ANGB we used to fly the Hudson all the time going into Stewart....used to fly right past the Twin Towers...so close you could reach out an touch them....after 911 we no longer could. I used to really enjoy that after a long day's flight.....

[Evil Slayer]

ANY large plane flying low over ANY of the big cities like Chicago or Dallas, etc that have high tower buildings could cause a panic. High altitude is a different thing. Even though a plane taking off from a city airport, it will try to gain altitude as soon as possible without appearing to be targeting a building.