As if New Yorkers aren’t under enough stress this week with an outbreak of Swine Flu in a Queens prep school, today they were also subjected to flash backs of September 11th 2001 when an Air Force One look-alike jumbo jet made 4 fly pasts the Statue of Liberty.

The back up plane for the one regularly used by president Barack Obama flew low over New York and New Jersey flanked by 2 F-16 fighter jets in a photo call for Air Force photographers.

But, without any notification of the exercise having been given to Mayor Michael Bloomberg or any other public services, momentary panic set in with the population on the ground in Manhattan.

By late afternoon, Bloomberg was reported to be ‘furious’ that he had not been informed in advance of the flyover, causing The White House to issue an apology by the director of the Military Office saying, Last week, I approved a mission over New York. I take responsibility for that decision. While federal authorities took the proper steps to notify state and local authorities in New York and New Jersey, it’s clear that the mission created confusion and disruption. I apologize and take responsibility for any distress that flight caused.

The flyover began around 10 a.m. resulted in confusion on the ground which led to a flood of calls to emergency hot lines. Perplexed officials at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and other authorities were inundated with calls from anxious ferry passengers, who recently witnessed the splash landing of a US Airways plane in the Hudson and office workers and residents who’s thoughts turned to that tragic day in 2001.

At 1 Liberty Plaza, according to another person who works in Lower Manhattan, a loudspeaker announcement said at 10:55 a.m., “Planes were observed flying low over Lower Manhattan, but were part of an approved federal action.”
A resident of the Upper West Side, said, “The plane did a 360. There was a vibration. The glass in the skyscrapers was shivering.” He added, “It sounded like the building were cracking, everything started shaking. I thought the plane was coming down.”
A floor director in an office building at 1 Battery Park Place, said, “People were running out of the office, claiming they saw a commercial flight being pursued by F-16’s.” He added, “There was some confusion and a little excitement.”
A group of financial services workers, who were gathered outside the same building described their reactions saying, “I saw the landing gear and I was out of here,” one said. Another said: “There were people in my elevator, sweating and shaking. There were women crying. It was not an experience to be taken lightly. A street vendor told reporters, “People panicked and ran into the streets thinking the worst.” He added, “It’s a real shame they couldn’t tell the city what they were going to do.”