Obama orders review of New York City flyover

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-04-29 08:05

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama has ordered an internal review to determine how the decision was made to send of one of his official airplanes on a low-flying photo op past the New York City skyline.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday that deputy chief of staff Jim Messina will lead the review. Gibbs said the point is to determine "why that decision was made and to ensure that it never happens again."

Obama orders review of New York City flyover
In this image taken with a cell phone by Jason McLane, the primary presidential aircraft, a Boeing 747 known as Air Force One when the president is aboard, flies low over New York Harbor, followed by an F-16 chase plane during a federal government photo op Monday, April 27, 2009. [Agencies] more Air Force One photos

Gibbs said Obama was "furious" when he heard about the incident. Obama has called it a mistake.

On Monday, one of the Boeing 747s used by Obama and an F-16 jet circled the Statue of Liberty at the start of the work day, startling workers in lower Manhattan who feared a nightmarish replay of the 2001 terrorist attacks.

Gibbs said that the review would likely take about a week or so to complete. He said he would have to confer with White House lawyers before answering a question about whether the results would be made public.

The director of the White House military office, Louis Caldera, took the blame for the incident in a statement Monday.