San Francisco jet fly-by 'too much like September 11'

[Oneworldplus2]

Got this off no-news this morning.

San Francisco jet fly-by 'too much like September 11' | News.com.au

• United Airlines fly-by close to city
• Americans say stunt "like 9/11 attacks"
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THE pilot of a United Airlines 747-400 has outraged Americans for flying too close to buildings in San Francisco as part of an airshow stunt.

The Fleet Week 2010 airshow stunt has drawn criticism from many who said it was too reminiscent of the September 11 attack on New York.

The United Airlines 747-400 was captured on video and posted on websites performing a low pass over the Golden Gate Bridge and then the city – angering many.
“As a father who lost a daughter on September 11, 2001, at the WTC, this photo op and stunt rates right up there with the Pentagon photo shoot of Air Force One in New York City... stupid, stupid, stupid,” Thomas Meehan posted on San Francisco-based blog site The BAT.
“Even after nine years the images of planes as weapons of death and destruction can still evoke pain, terror, and heartbreak. These people need serious professional help.”
Another female blogger wrote: “We don’t all keep track of the air shows. I’m sure there were a lot of frightened drivers and pedestrians on that bridge.”
“Yeah, it made an amazing video, but was United thinking about the people who knew nothing about what was happening? United doesn’t have the right to put people unnecessarily at risk,” the post said.
Other people questioned the right of United Airlines being in the airshow at all, complaining that it was blatant product placement in what is usually a military-only display.
Airshow organisers said that the Golden Gate Bridge was never under any threat, and the 747 fly-by was responsibly and professionally planned and executed.

 

[harvyk]

The problem is I can see both sides of the story...

On one hand there is the "get over it" side, where quite realistically the plane was under complete control, they had the appropriate authorisations, and unless it was a "secret airshow" which the public had been kept in the dark about there would have been some degree of advertising about it.

On the other hand, 911 was an event which scared the wits out of Americans (and with good reason) whilst we may consider some of the post 911 rules an over reaction such an event leaves a scar in minds of. Thus anything which could be associated with such an event is likely to remind people of that event. Thus unless the advertising was that effective that everyone in SF knew what was going on, seeing a plane which was not flying a normal course over the city is likely to alarm people.

 

[tuppaware]

That video has been out for a couple of weeks... So why now is the News picking up on it ?? Must not much else happening?

 

[NM]

That video has been out for a couple of weeks... So why now is the News picking up on it ?? Must not much else happening?

Their google tools are a little slow, impacting the timeliness of their research.

 

[samh004]

On one hand there is the "get over it" side, where quite realistically the plane was under complete control, they had the appropriate authorisations, and unless it was a "secret airshow" which the public had been kept in the dark about there would have been some degree of advertising about it.

I too can see both sides of the story, but I really do think America as a nation needs to (without intentionally angering anyone) learn to get past it. If they’re scared of planes for the next decade, and a few after that, they’ll be the only nation and it’ll affect them all.

If they’re all so scared still about a low flying plane then they also don’t have much faith in their government to stop such a future attack, so perhaps the government needs to look at fixing that image.

There’s also the "why should you think there’s a future attack coming", I know a lot of America is very eye for an eye, but it’s much more preferable for everyone to just get along, and to always believe you’re going to be attacked again shows there’s something seriously wrong.

Relating specifically to the incident, no one will always know everything, and if you’re not into air shows, does that mean no one else who is in the know should be allowed to enjoy stunts like this? I don’t think it’s United’s fault that they didn’t make sure every person in the area knew what was happening, that would be a hard undertaking.

 

[notzac]

Ehh.. thought it was kinda cool, myself. I sympathise with those who lost people close to them in 2001, but that was 9 years ago.

How long is it going to take for someone to sue UA or the air show organisers?

 

[anat0l]

Maybe it's hard for us to say, "get over it" and that's it, because it doesn't hit hard on anyone here (i.e. the aforementioned posted) who wasn't affected by 9/11 (and for those that were affected, please don't take this statement of irreverence).

Sure, in many eyes of the world, 9/11 may have been a great tragedy that happened in the US, the precursor of a long, drawn out war or the punishment from <insert deity here>, whatever. If it happened to you, there might be a different view, and "getting over it" is far, far from easy, especially when the event is brought up again. It's like losing a loved one (brother, sister, parent) to an accident or sudden death and living for it for years to come - whether it be in a few years or decades, it's hard to overcome. You can think of what might have been, but you know it's hard to overcome such a thing.

On the other hand, there is merit for learning to move on, but perhaps it needs to be realised without being inconsiderate of the affected. In saying that, in some cases I do agree that "not moving on" can be detrimental. For example, when SOCOG temporarily moved to not have the American band playing in the Sydney Olympics, one of the American officials retorted on Australia's ungratefulness by saying, "If it weren't for us, all of you would be speaking Japanese." Now that's just pig-headed arrogance...

How long is it going to take for someone to sue UA or the air show organisers?

Do you think there will be a litigation? Oh wait, this is USA.... sheesh...

Otherwise, one might also believe that at least there will be a moral backlash or reputational damage on the part of UA.

 

[medhead]

The problem with this is only a limited number of people actually experienced 911 and I'm pretty sure that those that did were not looking at a low flying aircraft (is 80 stories low?) thinking that it was going to crash into a building. More likely when an aircraft flies low over me they were thinking it was looking for an airport. Or ignored it. So the big problem I have is that the low flying aircraft could be too reminiscent of something that the vast majority of people didn't experience in the first place. How can you reminisce about something that you never did, in the first place?

Sure people might be "gun" shy about a low flying aeroplane, but get some perspective. What about trains do they freak out about catch a train? Or going to a federal government building, not in Oklahoma city?

, one of the American officials retorted on Australia's ungratefulness by saying, "If it weren't for us, all of you would be speaking Japanese." Now that's just pig-headed arrogance...

And ignores the fact that Australia stopped Japan in PNG without any help from the US.

 

[yohy?!]

sorry... no, the people who misconstrued this as a possible terrorist attack are clueless and y likely very few in number. the video clearly looks like a 747 doing lazy circles...at no time were any of the maneuvers menacing or threatening....media beatup

 

[UP4014]

The problem with this is only a limited number of people actually experienced 911 and I'm pretty sure that those that did were not looking at a low flying aircraft (is 80 stories low?) thinking that it was going to crash into a building. More likely when an aircraft flies low over me they were thinking it was looking for an airport. Or ignored it. So the big problem I have is that the low flying aircraft could be too reminiscent of something that the vast majority of people didn't experience in the first place. How can you reminisce about something that you never did, in the first place?

Sure people might be "gun" shy about a low flying aeroplane, but get some perspective. What about trains do they freak out about catch a train? Or going to a federal government building, not in Oklahoma city?



And ignores the fact that Australia stopped Japan in PNG without any help from the US.

There was Midway and the Coral Sea.

Having been to Navy Week in San Francisco myself, there are planes buzzing all around the city over the bay, a great vibe with continious take offs (and landings as you would expect) from the 4 or so aircraft carriers in the bay.

I think most San Franciscans would know it was a PR exercise as part of the event.

Slow news day.

 

[ButFli]

Military jets and the ships that carry them are the tools that the USA has used to kill thousands of innocent civillians. I personally feel that displaying them for celebratory purposes is disrespectful to the dead.

Maybe those dead civillians don't count because they weren't white.

 

[bigjobs]

they are 2 separte and unrelated occurances.

9/11 planes were hijacked & flown deliberately at buildings with intentions to cause death, mayhem and destruction by unauthorised and semi skilled operators.

This plane was flown by a qualified, skilled, competent and authorised pilot / crew in a flight pattern that was designed to display the aircraft during an airshow.

If the plane was being flown at buildings then I could see the relationship.

 

[straitman]

There was Midway and the Coral Sea.

Having been to Navy Week in San Francisco myself, there are planes buzzing all around the city over the bay, a great vibe with continious take offs (and landings as you would expect) from the 4 or so aircraft carriers in the bay.

I think most San Franciscans would know it was a PR exercise as part of the event.

Slow news day.

I have to agree with this.

We were in San Francisco for Fleet Week last year and there was a lot of aircraft around the city and over the bay.




Sent from my iPhone using AFF Mobile

 

[yohy?!]

Military jets and the ships that carry them are the tools that the USA has used to kill thousands of innocent civillians. I personally feel that displaying them for celebratory purposes is disrespectful to the dead.

Maybe those dead civillians don't count because they weren't white.

I tend to agree about America being far from innocent but in this case I'm struggling to find instances of United Airlines killing thousands of civilians...

 

[ButFli]

I tend to agree about America being far from innocent but in this case I'm struggling to find instances of United Airlines killing thousands of civilians...

Er... I wasn't talking about the United aircraft. I was clearly referring to the military aircraft and aircraft carriers. I even said as much!

I mean it's a bit inconsistent to QQ over a civilian aircraft that was designed for peaceful purposes doing a fly over when Fleet Week (or whatever it is) is a week-long celebration of machines designed to kill and are used for that purpose on a regular basis. It is sick.

 

[yohy?!]

Er... I wasn't talking about the United aircraft. I was clearly referring to the military aircraft and aircraft carriers. I even said as much!

I mean it's a bit inconsistent to QQ over a civilian aircraft that was designed for peaceful purposes doing a fly over when Fleet Week (or whatever it is) is a week-long celebration of machines designed to kill and are used for that purpose on a regular basis. It is sick.

fair enough but the video focuses on the united 747 fly-by and that is what the hype is all about apparently. the military equipment is neither referred to nor pictured prominently.

 

[ButFli]

fair enough but the video focuses on the united 747 fly-by and that is what the hype is all about apparently. the military equipment is neither referred to nor pictured prominently.

Which is exactly my point. People are frightened by a civilian airliner but don't seem to mind military aircraft that have the potential to be thousands of times more deadly.

 

[drron]

Which is exactly my point. People are frightened by a civilian airliner but don't seem to mind military aircraft that have the potential to be thousands of times more deadly.

Though the people of Melbourne weren't afraid of the QF flyover for the Grand prix.

 

[samh004]

Though the people of Melbourne weren't afraid of the QF flyover for the Grand prix.

I thought it was going to have an emergency landing on the track :shock:

 

[NYCguy]

Though the people of Melbourne weren't afraid of the QF flyover for the Grand prix.

Which merely serves to demonstrate that American's are paralyzed with fear every time something vaguely out-of-the-ordinary happens.

Americans feel quite at home with "machines of death" - their entire society is militarized, just in case you haven't noticed. This has led to their inability to understand that it is their aggression and interference in world affairs that caused 9/11 in the first place, rather than it being perpetrated by people who envy their "freedom".