Lower Manhattan and low-flying jets: there's a history there, and not a good one. But in a decision oddly insensitive to the Sept. 11 attacks, a White House official approved an April 27 photo shoot that sent an Air Force One backup plane and two fighter jets low over the Statue of Liberty and downtown New York City. The result: panic and lots of people fleeing office buildings in Manhattan and northern New Jersey. The White House Military Office, which approved the $330,000 flyover, had alerted local authorities, the FAA and Mayor Michael Bloomberg's office (though not the mayor himself), but a bureaucratic mix-up prevented the public from being notified as well. Scrambling to control the damage, Bloomberg and President Obama both expressed anger at being kept in the dark about the plan. Military Office director Louis Caldera immediately issued an apology, acknowledging that the flyover caused "confusion and disruption." Saying sorry wasn't enough to save his job, however; less than two weeks, later he was out the door.
The Top 10 Everything of 2009
- Top 10 Albums
- Top 10 Animal Stories
- Top 10 Apologies
- Top 10 Art Exhibitions
- Top 10 Awkward Moments
- Top 10 Best Business Deals
- Top 10 Breakups
- Top 10 Buzzwords
- Top 10 Children's Books
- Top 10 Crime Stories
- Top 10 Editorial Cartoons
- Top 10 Facebook Stories
- Top 10 Fashion Faux Pas
- Top 10 Fashion Moments
- Top 10 Feuds
- Top 10 Fiction Books
- Top 10 Fleeting Celebrities
- Top 10 Gadgets
- Top 10 Green Ideas
- Top 10 Heroes
- Top 10 iPhone Apps
- Top 10 Late-Night Jokes
- Top 10 Magazine Covers
- Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs
- Top 10 Movie Performances
- Top 10 Movies
- Top 10 New Species
- Top 10 News Stories
- Top 10 Nonfiction Books
- Top 10 Oddball News Stories
- Top 10 Pariahs
- Top 10 Pictures of the Year
- Top 10 Plays and Musicals
- Top 10 Political Gaffes
- Top 10 Quotes
- Top 10 Religion Stories
- Top 10 Scandals
- Top 10 Scientific Discoveries
- Top 10 Songs
- Top 10 Sports Moments
- Top 10 T-Shirt-Worthy Slogans
- Top 10 TV Ads
- Top 10 TV Episodes
- Top 10 TV Series
- Top 10 Tweets
- Top 10 Underreported Stories
- Top 10 Untruths
- Top 10 Video Games
- Top 10 Viral Videos
- Top 10 Worst Biz Deals
TIME charts the highs and lows of the past year in 50 wide-ranging lists