Forgetting 9/11

President Obama has asked for an internal investigation of a photo-op featuring the presidential jet that sent thousands of New Yorkers running for their lives. . . .

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Tuesday Obama was "furious" when he heard about the incident and has ordered a deputy chief of staff [to] find out "why that decision was made and to ensure that it never happens again."

Many New Yorkers, too, were asking why the administration would authorize an Air Force One backup plane to fly over the Manhattan skyline for photos capturing the presidential plane with the Statue of Liberty in the background -- without assuring the public in advance that there was no cause for alarm.

The 747 plane, with an F-16 escort following close behind, circled the Statue of Liberty and the skyline near the World Trade Center site for about a half-hour. Offices were evacuated. Emergency call centers were inundated. Witnesses reported that the planes were flying dangerously low. . . .

One White House official told FOX News that all future photo-ops with the Air Force One backup plane have been banned, but another White House official would not confirm to FOX News that a reported flyover of Washington, D.C., with the U.S. Capitol as a backdrop scheduled for May 5-6 had been scrubbed. . . .

Others in the White House say the flyover served as a dual photo-op and training hour, explaining the pilots needed flight hours and they wanted the pictures.

According to WCBSTV as quoted on GatewayPundit, "a memo obtained by CBS 2 HD the Federal Aviation Administration's James Johnston said the agency was aware of 'the possibility of public concern regarding DOD (Department of Defense) aircraft flying at low altitudes' in an around New York City. But they demanded total secrecy from the NYPD, the Secret Service, the FBI and even the mayor's office and threatened federal sanctions if the secret got out."

The sheer stupidity involved in approving the flyover is beyond my understanding. If the pilots need flight hours, let them log their hours somewhere else. The US has over 3.5 million square miles of land. Pick an area. To even consider repeating this over the White House is more than ridiculous. People in the administration may have forgotten what happened on September 11, 2001, but I assure you that New Yorkers have not.