One of the presidential passenger planes, called Air Force One when he’s on board, did a low-altitude flyover for a Halloween event at the White House.
The White House posted multiple videos of the flyover on social media, including one showing the plane going over the White House.
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Another showed the plane going past the Washington Monument as well as President Trump waving to the plane while at the White House’s trick-or-treating for kids.
The flyover caused some consternation with local authorities. The D.C. Council said on social media that the White House “provided just fifteen minutes notice to anyone in downtown DC, at the Pentagon, or at National Airport. It startled many, including us.”
The flyover occurred at around 5:45 p.m. Thursday, with the AlertDC service run by D.C. Homeland Security & Emergency Management putting the word out about the flyover 20 minutes before.
Others seemed to be aware earlier of the impending flyover. Local freelance photographer Andrew Leyden said on social media at 5:09 p.m. that the flyover was anticipated.
Some witnesses in the District of Columbia were startled by the plane’s speed and descent. Social media user Chris Cardno said, “I was on Connecticut Avenue when it went over and I straight up yelled. Seeing a plane that size fly over that low (and it seemed so SLOW) was unnerving.”
Another social media user going by the name Vivian said in a post, “Air Force one flyover, crazy low for a 747. I’m used to flyovers in DC but this one scared me. Seeing a passenger jet flying low overhead here would be quite a bad sign! Took a sec to realize what it was.”
The plane descended to altitudes as low as 375 feet during the flyover, according to flight tracking website AirNav Radar.
The plane used for the event was the one gifted to Mr. Trump by Qatari authorities, according to Washington’s WTTG.
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