NYC gets a 9/11 scare!

There were a few tense moments for people in midtown this morning after a 777 jetliner flew a little too low over the city. Mayor Bloomberg said the Federal Aviation Administration should have better notified the city beforehand that it was happening.

Continental Flight 3021 had been chartered by the military to ferry back soldiers from Ramstein, Germany. The troops on board had requested a “triumphant flyover” and pilots obliged. Witnesses say the plane made a couple of loops around Lower Manhattan before flying over midtown headed to Newark airport.

In a statement, Mayor Bloomberg said, “Considering the world we live in and New York City’s recent history, one would expect a little more concern, sensitivity and notice from the FAA when they authorize a plane to fly at that altitude over lower Manhattan.”

John Lind was working on the New Jersey side of the Lincoln Tunnel when the massive aircraft caught his eye.

John Lind, Worker: “The plane flew right past us but down the river headed South. It made three crazy loops.”

Several calls came in to 9-1-1 from frightened witnesses. One caller reported to authorities at 8:32 a.m. that a plane had crashed into the East River off Broad streets. A fire chief near the scene of the supposed crash requested information on the flight and was told in a callback that it was an authorized military flight. By 8:40 a.m., the fire department closed the incident. Fire department officials are not believed to have been told beforehand of the flyover, and authorities are now looking into the city’s internal inter-agency notification process.

The 777 was given permission to make a right turn at the Statue of Liberty and travel north up the Hudson river at 3,000 feet, the lowest allowable altitude for this approach. The plane was instructed to make a left turn at the George Washington Bridge and head to Newark Airport for the final descent. The path north up the Hudson, dubbed as the Expressway Visual, is the same approach that some flights use going into LaGuardia Airport. But normally flights are at approximately 6,000 feet when making that trip.

Flyover requests have been made in the past, most frequently following the military action in Afghanistan, but this is believed to be the first one since the war in Iraq.

An FAA spokesman said this afternoon, “We are investigating the circumstances surrounding the approval of the flight,” and officials say they are looking into whether this morning’s flyover should have been approved, and if there should be any more flyovers in the future.

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/news/WABC_051403_lowplane.html#