Series of gaffes led to Air Force One flyover

The Air Force One photo shoot over New York City last month, with the presidential aircraft buzzing lower Manhattan at 1,000 feet as terrified workers were fleeing office buildings, was a convergence of gaffes missed e-mails and phone calls, doses of pain pills, early departures from the office, and hallway “asides” that went nowhere.

The debacle culminated Friday in the resignation of Louis Caldera, director of the White House Military Office (WHMO).

“I have concluded that the controversy surrounding the Presidential Airlift Group’s aerial photo shoot over New York City has made it impossible for me to effectively lead the White House Military Office,” Mr. Caldera said, noting that the fiasco had become “a distraction.”

The White House Counsel’s Office, led by attorney Greg Craig, conducted an internal review of the fiasco, which was released by the White House Friday, along with a single photo of the flyover. The report was both bizarre and inconclusive, essentially grinding into a “he said, he said” about who knew what, when.

The report said: Initial planning for the flyover, in which a combat photographer trailing Air Force One in one of two F-16 fighter jets was assigned to take a new publicity photo of the presidential plane as it flew low over the Statue of Liberty, began in March 2009, “or earlier.”

On April 3, a group of federal and state officials, along with the Federal Aviation Administration, held a conference call to discuss “operational issues and public affairs/outreach issues.” Those on the call concluded that “public affairs and outreach efforts must be carefully coordinated and timed.”

There was a consensus that coordination with “the general public” would commence two days before the flight, but the written summary of the call insisted that “no reference should be made to the presidential aircraft in any public outreach.”

Neither Mr. Caldera, who was traveling with President Obama in Europe at the time, nor his deputy, George Mulligan, sat in on the call.

On April 9, Col. Scott Turner, commander of the Presidential Airlift Group (PAG), sent an e-mail to Mr. Mulligan detailing the flyover. Several days later, Col. Turner got back in touch, saying the plan was still under development.

Meanwhile, Mr. Caldera again accompanied Mr. Obama abroad, this time to Mexico and Trinidad, returning April 19.

The next day, April 20, Mr. Mulligan informed his boss for the first time about the flyover. He described the plan and even suggested that Mr. Caldera might “want to inform White House Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina because the plan involved the use of the presidential aircraft and because it was unusual.”

“The Director [Mr. Caldera] does not recall the conversation. He does not deny it took place,” the report said.

Missed e-mail and pain pills

By April 23, plans were in the final stages. Col. Turner e-mailed Mr. Mulligan “that for security reasons, details about the flight would be treated as ‘FOUO’ (‘for official use only’).” Plans were also in the works to inform the “general public on or after 26 Apr.”

“The Deputy Director [Mr. Mulligan] believes that he did not read Colonel Turner’s e-mail until the following morning,” the report said.

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