Obama Orders Review of NYC Flyover
President calls Monday photo op "a mistake"
By JOHN P. WISE and TIM MINTON
Updated 5:10 PM EST, Tue, Apr 28, 2009
President Barack Obama has ordered an internal review to determine how the decision was made to send of one of his official airplanes on a low-flying photo op past the New York City skyline.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday that deputy chief of staff Jim Messina will lead the review. Gibbs said the point is to determine "why that decision was made and to ensure that it never happens again."
Gibbs said Obama was "furious" when he heard about the incident. Obama Tuesday called it a mistake, vowing "it will not happen again."
On Monday, one of the Boeing 747s used by Obama and an F-16 jet circled the Statue of Liberty at the start of the work day, startling workers in lower Manhattan who feared a nightmarish replay of the 2001 terrorist attacks.
Meanwhile, New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine said he received no advance warning of the planned photo op.
He also said he has yet to find a New Jersey official who was told in advance about the Monday morning flyover.
A White House official has said the New York City mayor's office and other New York and New Jersey police agencies were told about the Boeing 747's flight.
A report surfaced Tuesday that an obscure deputy in Mayor Michael Bloomberg's office failed to tell his boss about the plan, which caused the short-tempered Bloomy to blast everyone involved.
"I'm annoyed -- furious is a better word -- that I wasn't told," Bloomberg vented yesterday. "If I had known about it, I would have called them right away and asked them not to."
Copyright Associated Press / NBC New York
First Published: Apr 28, 2009 10:32 AM EST
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