Planes Over Manhattan

UPDATE: Mayor Bloomberg's angry reaction, and video of New Yorkers running for their lives as Air Force One screams low overhead.

Some folks in New York City got a scare this morning as a 747 accompanied by F-16 fighters flew low over the city:

A plane circling Lower Manhattan escorted by two fighter jets is part of a “photo op,” said Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Jim Peters. The event caused some evacuations of office buildings in Lower Manhattan and Jersey City, N.J., on Monday morning.

Mr. Peters said the Defense Department is conducting a photo op that involves deploying two F-16s and escorting a Boeing 747 in the vicinity of Lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty. He said the maneuver is not an emergency and was coordinated in advance with the FAA and state and local officials.

Although officials may have been notified, nobody bothered to tell the citizens. Not a good idea in a city still skittish about low flying airliners.

Looking at the photo at this site it appears the 747 was one of the planes used for Air Force One. It's a little hard to make out, but the paint scheme looks right. You can compare that picture to the photos I took of Air Force One in Long Beach in March.

UPDATE: White House confirms that the 747 was one of the two planes used for Air Force One. Pretty expensive photo-op.