The FAA put the kibosh on a military flight scheduled to fly up the Hudson River this morning, according to the NYPD.
The Navy wanted to fly a P-3 Orion reconnaissance plane up and down the Hudson at about 3,000 feet, but the FAA said no. A flyover at 3,000 feet is well above the tallest skyscrapers in the city, but after city officials were informed and higher-level FAA officials learned about the request, they declined permission for the flight.
The flight had been previously scheduled, likely before the incident two weeks ago when a Boeing 747 used by the president flew over lower Manhattan and caused a brief panic, police said. A White House official resigned over the photo-op which cost taxpayers $328,000 and sent thousands of New Yorkers scrambling for cover .
"A Navy unit based in Maine notified an FAA airspace office in New York early this morning that it wanted to fly a P3 military plane at 3,000 feet in altitude over the Hudson river at 10:30 a.m. today," the Federal Aviation Administration. "The specialist who handled the request notified the City of New York Mayor's office. When higher-level FAA officials learned about the request, they informed the Navy that the flight was not approved and would not be allowed to fly the requested route."
At least one public official was irked by the latest flight. Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy said he knew nothing about the planned flyover until after it was canceled and his police department was not informed until Monday morning. Jersey City is located directly across from lower Manhattan.
"This was a mistake that would have repeated the whole stupid and alarming process that occurred two weeks ago," Healy said, referring to the April 27 flyover.
It isn't immediately clear why the FAA canceled the flight. Mayor Michael Bloomberg says the city did not ask for Monday's Navy flight to be canceled, but did tell the FAA they would have preferred more notice.
