http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/15/nyregion/15FAA.html

A Boeing 777 jet flying near the Statue of
Liberty and across Midtown Manhattan
yesterday morning to give returning military
personnel a closer view prompted numerous
calls to the police and to aviation
officials, the Federal Aviation
Administration said. The incident showed how
nerves continue to be frayed after the attack
of Sept. 11.

The plane, a chartered Continental Airlines
flight, was carrying members of the military
home from the Iraqi war, said Arlene Salac, a
spokeswoman for the aviation agency. The
plane receieved permission from air traffic
controllers in Garden City, N.Y., to change
its flight plan to approach Newark Liberty
International Airport by heading south down
the Hudson River, circling the Statue of
Liberty, heading up the East River, and
crossing Midtown about 8:30 a.m., she said.

This was done "to provide a special
homecoming for members of our armed forces,"
a statement from the F.A.A. said. Similar
requests had been granted to military
charters to and from Afghanistan, it said.

The plane flew at approximately 3,000 feet.
"The operation was perfectly safe," Ms. Salac
said. "Safety was never compromised."

She said the public was not used to seeing a
twin-engine, wide-body plane take this
particular route.