AIR & SPACE MAGAZINE

Costly photos of Air Force One

Back in April, the White House thought it would be a good idea to take new photos of the President’s airplane, Air Force One (actually a backup), flying over New York city. The photo-op backfired, though, when some New Yorkers were spooked by the sight of what looked like a passenger jet being e…

Tony Reichhardt

August 3, 2009

Back in April, the White House thought it would be a good idea to take new photos of the President's airplane, Air Force One (actually a backup), flying over New York city. The photo-op backfired, though, when some New Yorkers were spooked by the sight of what looked like a passenger jet being escorted by an F-16. In the resulting flap, White House Military Office director Louis Caldera resigned.

Now, in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, the Air Force has released 146 photos from the photo session, along with hundreds of pages of emails and other documents related to the incident.