Air Farce

MCT

The following editorial appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer on Thursday, April 30:

   President Obama should ground the genius on his staff who arranged a photo-op of Air Force One flying low around the skyscrapers of lower Manhattan.

   On Monday, office workers in New York were terrified to see a 747 jet circling the city at low altitudes. The plane rattled windows and prompted panicked calls to 9-1-1 from people who feared another 9/11.

   Thousands of workers evacuated office buildings. Though the terrorist attacks were more than seven years ago, the memory of the World Trade Center disaster was still fresh in their minds.

   Their anxiety turned to anger when they learned the plane was the president's jet, sent by the White House Military Office to be photographed as it flew around landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty. The photographer was in an F-16 fighter jet that trailed Air Force One.

   Obama himself was not on board, and apparently didn't know about the stunt until later.

   The idea itself was stupid. Just as bad was the decision not to alert the public about the flight.

   The Federal Aviation Administration realized the exercise could cause panic, yet the FAA ordered the New York Police Department and other agencies not to inform the public. That kind of disregard shouldn't be repeated.

   Taxpayers paid $328,835 for the presidential jet and two F-16 fighters to fly from Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland to New York and back. That's a costly photo-op.

   White House officials haven't said why they needed new photographs of Air Force One. Perhaps that's because there is no good explanation. It appears to be a case of new government officials not being able to resist playing with toys in their job.

   Obama has ordered an internal investigation of Monday's episode. He called it a "mistake" and said it won't happen again. Fine. And when the review is complete, the president should take some personnel action against whomever was in charge and showed such ridiculous judgment.

Have a comment? Please e-mail us.

©The Voice 2009