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Comments

1. #1
   On July 31st, 2009 at 4:07 pm, behiker said:

   They are still amateur photographs. Reflections in the glass, poor lighting angles, cluttered backgrounds, etc. These are nothing more than snapshots.

   Something is still being hidden.

2. #2
   On July 31st, 2009 at 4:08 pm, Wayfaring Stranger said:

   Doug, thanks for that last link. I always knew Lady Liberty was a no-BS woman.

3. #3
   On July 31st, 2009 at 4:10 pm, Paul Revere said:

   WHO WAS ON THE PLANE?!?!!?

4. #4
   On July 31st, 2009 at 4:12 pm, spaceycakes said:

   for this “…I spent 4 lonely days/in a brown L.A. haze…”
   ?

5. #5
   On July 31st, 2009 at 4:13 pm, cabrerski said:

   It took that long for them to review the photos, trying to ensure Odopey’s ears were not visble?

6. #6
   On July 31st, 2009 at 4:17 pm, cabrerski said:

   Oh yeah,

   “I hope you’re enjoyin’ the scen’ry
   I know that it’s pretty up there”

7. #7
   On July 31st, 2009 at 4:31 pm, BOB said:

   I’d still like to know who was on the plane.

8. #8
   On July 31st, 2009 at 4:36 pm, Flyoverman said:

   On July 31st, 2009 at 4:10 pm, Paul Revere said:

   WHO WAS ON THE PLANE?!?!!?

   Everyone on the plane appeared to be Air Force personnel. I have no problem with redacting the names of the miltary personnel on the aircraft. The pilot, Colonel Scott, is a known. The remainder are not named for security reasons, because they are part of the crew. I agree with that.

   Note all had TSC, Top Secret Clearances.

9. #9
   On July 31st, 2009 at 4:39 pm, Bruce said:

   Obviously snapshots by amateur photogs who were on the flight … and are still unidentified.

   Now … who wants to bet the majority were either K street bums or big contributors?

   WHO THE HELL WAS ON THAT FLIGHT!!WE HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW!!

10. #10
    On July 31st, 2009 at 4:42 pm, battleaxe said:

    If it taked Hussein 3 months just to hand out some pictures, how long would I have to wait for an emergency spleen-ectomy?

11. #11
    On July 31st, 2009 at 4:43 pm, Paul Revere said:

    Everyone on the plane appeared to be Air Force personnel. I have no problem with redacting the names of the miltary personnel on the aircraft. The pilot, Colonel Scott, is a known. The remainder are not named for security reasons, because they are part of the crew. I agree with that.

    Note all had TSC, Top Secret Clearances.

    Okay, but I would bet money those weren’t that only people on that plane.

12. #12
    On July 31st, 2009 at 4:49 pm, Flyoverman said:

    Okay, but I would bet money those weren’t that only people on that plane.

    I understand your point.

    That is the official manifest that you would find for any Air Force passenger flight. There is no other document so by definition it is “official.”

    Unless someone on that flight or associated with it can vouch that the document is “forged” then that manifest will be considered Gospel.

13. #13
    On July 31st, 2009 at 4:51 pm, thebronze said:

    That PDF form is not a passenger manifest. It’s a set of Flight Orders (Flight Authorization) for the aircrew and mission essential ground personnel (MEGP).

    A flight manifest is a completely seperate document.

    I guarantee there was a flight manifest for that flight and there were more than 15 people on that plane.

14. #14
    On July 31st, 2009 at 4:51 pm, thebronze said:

    Flyoverman, you’re wrong.

    See my post above.

15. #15
    On July 31st, 2009 at 4:54 pm, vsatt said:

    I don’t think they were there on a photo op at all, that was just the excuse, thus the amateur pics.

    Since all of the passengers had top-secret clearances I’m guessing they were really out there to test some kind of new security or defense system on AF1. If they released the names of the passengers, it might not be too difficult to find out what department they are in and figure out the project(s) they are working on. This could very well be a case where in the interest of national security, the public does not need to know what “really” happened.

16. #16
    On July 31st, 2009 at 5:11 pm, WrshpMzshn said:

    On July 31st, 2009 at 4:39 pm, Bruce said:

    Obviously snapshots by amateur photogs who were on the flight … and are still unidentified.

    Now … who wants to bet the majority were either K street bums or big contributors?

    Bruce, those pictures couldn’t have been taken by K street bums on the flight; the photographer was on one of the escorts. Still pretty lousy pix.

17. #17
    On July 31st, 2009 at 5:12 pm, Flyoverman said:

    On July 31st, 2009 at 4:51 pm, thebronze said:
    Flyoverman, you’re wrong.

    See my post above.

    Hey, when I was in they spun the props by hand and the manifests were etched on clay tablets.

    My error. I looked again. That is an order. I obviously, never saw one of those documents. But then my job was to shoot them down, not fly on them…..

    Good catch. I stand corrected. So let me join you and add my voice:

    WHO WAS ON THAT PLANE?

18. #18
    On July 31st, 2009 at 5:19 pm, spaceycakes said:

    thebronze–is your handle ‘Mad Max’ slang for police officer?

19. #19
    On July 31st, 2009 at 5:30 pm, oldcollegeguy1980 said:

    That flight authorization is only the military orders “NOT” the flight manifest of every person who would be on the flight

    Was there any person other than the military personnel listed on that flight?

    I submit there was!

20. #20
    On July 31st, 2009 at 5:32 pm, oldcollegeguy1980 said:

    I have always held there were others on that flight!

21. #21
    On July 31st, 2009 at 5:35 pm, oldcollegeguy1980 said:

    In order to be a part of the Air Force One team, a Top Secret Security Clearance is mandatory.

    They all also likely have the TS with SAR (Special Access Requirement)

22. #22
    On July 31st, 2009 at 5:43 pm, oldcollegeguy1980 said:

    To be clear, you would never, “NEVER” put your passenger list on a military flight authorization

    To do so would imply they were part of the flight crew.

23. #23
    On July 31st, 2009 at 5:48 pm, Hangfire said:

    According to an AF friend of mine who shall remain nameless, Barney Frank and a few guests were onboard the flight…

    …doing zero-g sex while the plane flew parabolas.

24. #24
    On July 31st, 2009 at 5:51 pm, FIslam said:

    It looks like the military jets are ready for a fight. Is it normal / legal for them to fly with all those weapons? Is the ammunition typically live in this type of flight, so close to residential areas? Is additional paperwork required? I could understand if the President had been on board, even President Obama, but considering the nature of this frolick…

25. #25
    On July 31st, 2009 at 6:05 pm, AlohaGuy said:

    Since all of the passengers had top-secret clearances I’m guessing they were really out there to test some kind of new security or defense system on AF1.

    The pizza guy sends up a helium balloon tied to the box, and AF1 swoops in and snares the balloon and reels in the pie. Then the kids all party…

26. #26
    On July 31st, 2009 at 6:20 pm, thebronze said:

    On July 31st, 2009 at 5:19 pm, spaceycakes said:
    thebronze–is your handle ‘Mad Max’ slang for police officer?

    sc,

    Yes. Former.

    Good catch, BTW.

27. #27
    On July 31st, 2009 at 7:02 pm, oldcollegeguy1980 said:

    The stores on the F-16 look like standard fare; 370 wing tanks, AIM-9s on the outer rails, ECM Pod on centerline, Nav/targeting pods on fuselage and I think I saw something on STA 3 and 7, can’t remember everything.

    I’ll take another look, but it is all pretty standard stuff for a pic to show capabilities….

28. #28
    On July 31st, 2009 at 7:04 pm, Boomer said:

    Take if from an old broken down retired USAF KC-135A/KC-10A Boom Operator the so called flight manifest is just what bronze called it Flight Authorization for mission essential aircrew personnel. This is not a Passenger Manifest, which would be used for identifying other persons on the aircraft unless this was a relatively empty aircraft, which I doubt the narcissist would allow to fly over New York without loading it up with some of his supporters. All aircrew personnel have a minimum of a Top Secret security clearance to be cleared for normal USAF operational flight duties.

    I find it very hard to believe a professional USAF photography took these extremely poor quality pictures from the chase plane. I took better pictures of the SR-71, the Thunderbirds, and other aircraft that pulled in behind to quench their thirst with my old Nikon back when I was flying.

    Fislam the F-16s are carrying drop tanks (external fuel tanks) and inert missiles. You can tell by the blue strip toward the warhead section of the missile. I’ve seen them up close, when they are red then you have a live weapon. It can make life interesting when refueling an F-15 inflight in bad weather. The F-16 normally flies with this set-up with the drop tanks giving them a long flight time than the normal 1.3 hour sortie duration. The F-15 aircraft at our AFB usually fly with external tanks, missiles (normally with inert warheads unless at live fire exercises at Combat Archer in Florida), with inert or live iron bombs dropped on our local range. It really is nothing to worry about considering how few dropped object reports per the thousands of hours flown are filed each year from USAF aircraft.

29. #29
    On July 31st, 2009 at 7:10 pm, zyzzyg said:

    ” . . . why did the White House make all of us spend money for the FOIA request?”

    Nope Greta. That is not the case. No one made you spend money. You chose to spend money. Good greif, that is akin to a spouse who asks their spouse, why do you make me hit you?

    Yep, the flyover without advanced knowledge, to the citizenry, was less than intelligent.

30. #30
    On July 31st, 2009 at 7:21 pm, thebronze said:

    Boomer,

    Retired C-5 Load here.

31. #31
    On July 31st, 2009 at 7:31 pm, Boomer said:

    On July 31st, 2009 at 7:21 pm, thebronze said:
    Boomer,

    Retired C-5 Load here.

    Sweet! Nice to run into another old crew dog. Even if you did work for the T-Tail Mafia.

32. #32
    On July 31st, 2009 at 7:51 pm, thebronze said:

    

33. #33
    On July 31st, 2009 at 8:26 pm, Elm Creek Smith said:

    My brother flew on EC-130s, EC-135s, and RC-135s. He can’t talk about the missions to this day except for when he got shot down, twice in the 130s. He never did say from whence he got “extracted.”

    I rode around in my tank and watched the pretty airplanes and F4s fly by.

    ECS

34. #34
    On July 31st, 2009 at 8:39 pm, Teddy Kennedy said:

    Errah, Just a Friday night photo drop nothing to see here. I guess we’ll know when we’re really screwed and they really want us to take our eyes off the ball. They’ll do a daytime or primetime drop and probably release DNA tests results proving they found Amelia Earhart’s bra and panties on some remote island or pictures from inside Area 51’s bathroom with Barney Frank, Larry Craig and some ET in a menage et tois (sic).

35. #35
    On July 31st, 2009 at 8:46 pm, WarEagle82 said:

    ECS,

    I think you said you lived in Frankfurt in the middle 70s. Were you in Bad V, Edwards or somewhere else outside the city center?

36. #36
    On July 31st, 2009 at 8:50 pm, oldcollegeguy1980 said:

    Is it the White Houses statement that these 15 military personnel are the only people who were aboard that flight?

    I would love for that to be asked to Gibbs at the next white house press briefing.

    I think we might get some serious newspeak from Mr Gibbs. And when he does that you know it is a cover-up.

37. #37
    On July 31st, 2009 at 8:57 pm, King Slav said:

    Should we assume anything from the fact that the DOD release is labeled “Air Force One Flyover of NYC” and not something that refers to the aircraft differently? What do they know that we don’t?

38. #38
    On July 31st, 2009 at 10:25 pm, torabora said:

    Friday is the day they announce the bank closures too.

39. #39
    On July 31st, 2009 at 11:24 pm, POTUS said:

    Funny. The photos are released inside a PDF file scrubbed of even the camera metadata. I guess it’s TOP SECRET on what type of camera and settings the photos were taken.

40. #40
    On August 1st, 2009 at 12:59 am, Rob Roy said:

    Since the “cash for…” program is the only thing that has “worked” for obama so far, he is going to franchise the idea.

    Those pictures were from the cash for your clunker jet program.

    Coming soon…

    Cash for your grandma healthcare program.

    Cash for your failed local bank program.

    Cash for your failing school program.

    Cash for your carbon footprint program.

    Cash for your failed state dictator program.

    Cash for your green energy jobs program.

41. #41
    On August 1st, 2009 at 1:21 am, BrianNY said:

    Here’s one of the pictures:

    I can see my sailboat docked just underneath the port wing in this picture of AF One banking left!

    Can I sue?

42. #42
    On August 1st, 2009 at 9:05 am, RachelD said:

    I’m not happy about the flyover, but I’m really unhappy about the photoshop of Lady Liberty. That’s not funny.
    Let’s leave the dirty gestures to the experts on the Left.

43. #43
    On August 1st, 2009 at 9:32 am, oldcollegeguy1980 said:

    Friday is the day they announce the bank closures too

    And there were 5 more this friday.

    Plus one more for last week, bringing last fridays number to 7

44. #44
    On August 2nd, 2009 at 12:03 am, simcoe said:

    Not releasing the photos had much more to do with embarrassment of the lack of quality for money spent than any security issues. Names withheld for the same reason.

45. #45
    On August 2nd, 2009 at 11:26 am, LB said:

    The small size, large number and poor quality of the photos suggest to me that they were extracted from a video.

    Oldcollegeguy – the missiles on the wingtips are AIM-120s, not AIM-9s. There are AIM-9s loaded inboard, however.

    Boomer – blue is indeed the color for inert, but brown and yellow stripes are used on the live ones (If memory serves, yellow is for the warhead).

    Unfortunately, the poor fidelity of the photos/frames is such that I can’t really tell if these are live or not. If you can tell that they’re blue, I’ll accept it.

    I think what most folks missed in the first reporting of this incident was that the mission lasted ~ 4 hours. This is common, they regularly fly training missions to practice tactics and maneuvers that would be not just classified, but unnerving and risky to passengers as well. I work near the New Castle County Airport in Delaware, the aircraft are occasionally spotted flying “touch and go” there, as the airport is on a very long list of diverts for AF1 and the crews are expected to have a familiarity with diverts in excess of what any other type of pilot would have (after all, a divert for AF1 may be needed when events have rendered services such as ATC and radio navigation aids inoperative). Point is, though, that the the claim of “X dollars spent for a photo op” is a bit of a stretch since the flyover was a small percentage of the overall mission. Also, if they were flying that type of training mission, the likelihood of passengers is small due to risk and classification of maneuvers performed.

    All of this comes not from my political views (which are solidly conservative) but my experience as a 20-year USAF veteran who still works in the defense industry. A joyride for dignitaries would never be combined with a 4-hour training mission, and an order to do so even from the WH would be an unlawful one.

46. #46
    On August 2nd, 2009 at 9:31 pm, WarEagle82 said:

    This would be so funny if it weren’t so true! Instead it is just sad…

    On August 1st, 2009 at 12:59 am, Rob Roy said:

    Since the “cash for…” program is the only thing that has “worked” for obama so far, he is going to franchise the idea.

47. #47
    On August 3rd, 2009 at 2:25 am, mattm said:

    Due to the poor quality if the images the whole “photo-op” seems like a cover up to me. If ti was truly a photo op I would expect to see some decent photos.

    I still want to know who was on the aircraft as a passenger and not essential military personnel. Until I see proof then I still have reason to believe that this was a pay off to top donors and lawmakers.