Low flying jet scares New Yorkers

[JeeberD]

You would think pilots would know better than to do things like that in this day and age...

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Jet Flies Low Over Manhattan, Putting Some on Ground on Edge

By TINA KELLEY


Boeing 777 jet flying near the Statue of Liberty and across Midtown Manhattan yesterday morning to give returning military personnel a closer view prompted numerous calls to the police and to aviation officials, the Federal Aviation Administration said. The incident showed how nerves continue to be frayed after the attack of Sept. 11.

The plane, a chartered Continental Airlines flight, was carrying members of the military home from the Iraqi war, said Arlene Salac, a spokeswoman for the aviation agency. The plane receieved permission from air traffic controllers in Garden City, N.Y., to change its flight plan to approach Newark Liberty International Airport by heading south down the Hudson River, circling the Statue of Liberty, heading up the East River, and crossing Midtown about 8:30 a.m., she said.

This was done "to provide a special homecoming for members of our armed forces," a statement from the F.A.A. said. Similar requests had been granted to military charters to and from Afghanistan, it said.

The plane flew at approximately 3,000 feet. Other planes routinely go over Manhattan at 3,500 or 4,000 feet, Ms. Salac said.

"The operation was perfectly safe," Ms. Salac said. "Safety was never compromised."

She said the public was not used to seeing a twin-engine, wide-body plane take this particular route.

"It caused a lot of concern among some citizens," she said. Neither the F.A.A. nor the police had a count of how many people had called to report the plane.

"The F.A.A. regrets any negative effects this might have had on New York City residents, and it has also issued an order to local facilities not to grant similar requests in the future," she said.

Neither the F.A.A., the Department of Defense nor Continental Airlines released the number of people on board, or the flight's city of origin.

In a statement released last night, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said, "Considering the world we live in and New York City's recent history, one would expect a little more concern, sensitivity and notice from the F.A.A. when they authorized a plane to fly at that altitude over Lower Manhattan."

[Swaggs]

Just saw footage of this on MSNBC.

Pretty scary.

[Mega]

I'm am just glad that there are air traffic controllers with this kind of common sense keeping us all safe from catasrophic midair collisions and horrible, fatal runway mix ups. Especially in an area that sees so much air traffic. Am I the only one feeling all warm and fuzzy?

[Tekneek]

what was unsafe about it?

[JeeberD]

Originally posted by Tekneek
what was unsafe about it?

It's not neccesarily unsafe, but it was certainly unwise. If I was in Manhattan and saw a low flying plane, certainly the first thing that would pop into my head would be September 11th...

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

It looked pretty odd on the footage .

[dawgfan]

Let's keep things in perspective here - the plane was flying at 3,000 feet, not that much under the typical 3,500 or 4,000 feet of other flight paths, so the altitude wasn't significantly different from normal.

The flight path itself was unusual, which is probably what was spooking people, but according to the FAA the path was approved. Just like any other approach the path would've been monitered so mid-air safety was not an issue.

I can sympathize with New York citizens being skittish after 9/11, but from an outside perspective it seems a bit of an overreaction.

[ColtCrazy]

Flying into LaGuardia once, I actually took this flight path, right over the statue. That was pre-9/11 though, so I'm sure it must have frightened some, but it's been done before too.

[tucker342]

Not a very smart move by the FAA...

[CAsterling]

methinks people inthe US just are a little paranoid right now.

[PilotMan]

I think that everything would have been ok as long as the FAA would have told the media that they were going to do it. I think it was a cool thing to do for the troops. There just should have been some heads up given.