Low-flying presidential plane sows New York panic
45 minutes ago
NEW YORK (AFP) — One of President Barack Obama's planes, escorted by two fighter jets, spread panic Monday flying low over New York, triggering office evacuations in the city still scarred by the 9/11 attacks.
But the low-flying planes which buzzed parts of southern Manhattan and the Hudson River for about 30 minutes were just out for a Pentagon exercise.
"The presidential airlift group conducted an aerial photo in the New York city area today," said US Air Force spokesman Major Richard Johnson.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) called the maneuver a "photo op."
"The Defense Department is conducting a photo op that involves deploying two F-16s and escorting a military version of the Boeing 747" close to lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty, FAA spokesman Jim Peters told AFP.
"The maneuver was not an emergency and was coordinated in advance with the FAA and state and local officials," he added.
A police spokesman confirmed some offices had been evacuated, without giving a figure and said: "I guess people panicked."
Hijackers slammed two planes into the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 destroying the building on the southern tip of Manhattan and killing about 3,000 people.
"I was there on 9/11, I saw thousands of people die. I don't like when I am not aware of a military photo op," said commodities trader Jurgens Bauer.
"I am in a room without windows, I did not see any plane, I saw everybody running and I ran out too. My heart is still pounding."
Ground Zero, where the buildings once stood, is now a permanent memorial to the deadliest-ever terror attack on American soil.
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