 |
Chalk this one up to poor communication: one of the Boeing 747 jetliners that carries the president was used in a photo opportunity yesterday. That op had the aircraft flying down the Hudson River between New Jersey and Manhattan at a very low altitude, not much above the level that two hijacked planes were flown at when they smashed into the World Trade Center’s twin towers on September 11, 2001, killing thousands.
Prior to the terrorist attacks, a low flying jetliner wouldn’t have gotten any reaction from normally steely New Yorkers. But, 9/11 forever changed the way New Yorkers look up to the sky, raising suspicion, even panic whenever a low-flying jet is spotted. Yesterday, thousands of workers evacuated their offices, with many fleeing on foot to move away from the “attack zone” just as they did in 2001.
Not A Comedy, But Almost A Tragedy
Yesterday’s incident might have been dismissed as a comedy of errors had it been recognized for what it was: a poorly executed photo op. Worse, the jetliner was trailed the whole time by an F-16 fighter jet, suggesting to many people in the city that a follow up attack was underway, with the Air Force jet dispatched to intercept the wayward aircraft.
Most insulting of all was that Air Force officials, who were behind the assignment, asked that the flight remain confidential. New York City’s police department knew about the photo op as did a junior aid in the Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s administration. That aid never informed the mayor who was understandably livid over the communication snafu.
A Flying Photo Op
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) sent an email to City Hall which outlined a “flying photo op” designed to snap glamour shots of the 747 jetliner as it winged its way down the Hudson River, circling past the Statue of Liberty. Flight patterns were identified as was the 1100-1500 foot altitude of the shoot.
However, the FAA instructed that the only those persons “with a need to know” be informed with specific instructions to keep the public out of the loop due to public concern over low-flying aircraft.
Huh?!
Obviously, someone goofed within the FAA, failing to realize that keeping the information hush-hush would create more of a problem. The weather on Monday was beautiful not unlike the conditions on that fateful day in 2001. Take similar weather conditions, add in a low-flying jumbo jetliner and follow that up with a “pursuing” attack jet and you have the makings of 9/11 Redux.
Lessons To Be Learned
The rebuke from the Bloomberg administration was swift as was it forceful. That junior aid had a warning letter put into his personal file, but you have to wonder if the photo op would have taken place had the mayor known about it. Sensitive to the feelings of New Yorkers, Bloomberg most likely would have objected to the flight or at the very least insisted that the public had the right to know.
For his part, PresidentObama voiced his strong displeasure over the communication snafu, a mission which simply would have updated several photo files, but ended up causing panic that resulted in mental harm to fleeing workers as well as millions of dollars in lost productivity.
These days, many Americans simply don’t trust their elected officials. Yesterday’s events gave them one more reason to doubt the actions of local, state and federal officials, resulting in a fall out which cannot yet be measured.
Additional Reading: Lessons From The Great Cuil Failure
I couldn’t have said it better. What were they thinking?
Deb S.s last blog post..Changes at PRWeek
Hi Matt -
Is this not unbelievable. I am amazed at how many “stupid” mistakes are occurring in this administration.
This may sound far fetched, but I can’t help but wondering if this wasn’t a deliberate tactic to test the reaction of NYorkers. President Obama is not a “stupid” man and everything this White House does is scripted so avoid these kind of mistakes.
I don’t know. It just feels odd to me that it is just another “stupid” mistake.
Dominiques last blog post..CNN and ANDERSON being held ACCOUNTABLE…
@Deb — I’m amazed that this event took place. I am glad no one got hurt, but wouldn’t be surprised if someone dropped dead from a heart attack.
@Dominique — Nothing can possibly be scripted to the point where all bases are covered. I think this situation demonstrates just what happens when government tries to manage everything — things are bound to fall between the cracks and, in this case, the reaction of traumatized New Yorkers was never considered.
Matt Keegans last blog post..Mysterious Donor Contributes Tens Of Millions To Universities
It is sad that they took this incident on the light side and tried to laugh it off as if it was not a big deal at all. Just a few communication issues is all they can say. Would be nice to those involved in this step forward and just apologize, acknowledge that they were careless ignorants and off to be moved to a back office job far away from public events.
Apollo, it was a serious matter for thousands of people yesterday. I can’t imagine what they were going through, unnecessary trauma at the very least.
I’m sure Mayor Bloomberg would have notified everyone of the government’s plans had he known. New Yorkers understand the trepidation people feel when an event like this one takes place. With NYC still in the crosshairs of terrorists, people have every reason for being angry.
I almost missed this one, but Sue sent it to me vis SU! I find it incredible that the American Air Force made such a mistake, but such things happen in life. What is purely pathetic is that they apparently not straightforward enough about what happened and unable to assume responsibility, which is a very, very, very cowardly act!
Mihaela Licas last blog post..Twitter Links Are Conversations? Give Me Break!
Mihaela, I think this decision was even higher up, one that was made from the top. President Obama was furious about the incident, but it seems some of his aids knew about it. Regardless, it was a stupid and poorly conceived idea, one that could have been done without scaring folks on the ground. That’s what Photoshop is for!
9-11 forver change the way us new yorkers feel about any type of aerial display, i truly believe if bloomberg knew he would have never allowed it since it was very unthoughtful and quite disrespectful to anyone who lost someone in 9-11. Even if it was a photo shoot greater care needs to be exercised.
Jays last blog post..Things to consider when getting a parrot cage.
Jay, I agree with your assessment of how Mayor Bloomberg would have handled the photo op had he knew about it in advance. The trauma inflicted on New Yorkers that day hasn’t been reported, at least on a national level. I think I would have gotten sick to my stomach and probably would have needed a few days to recover.