Attendees at the White House Halloween party on Thursday were dazzled when Air Force One roared overhead while making two low-altitude passes over the outdoor event.
But the unexpected sight and bone-shaking sound of a jumbo jet flying just hundreds of feet over downtown Washington startled and in some cases frightened residents who had no clue what was happening.
Many residents reported confusion, surprise and fear on social media. The sight of the government jet — which from below is hard to distinguish from a commercial airliner — flying low through typically restricted airspace led some to recall the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks conducted by terrorists piloting hijacked aircraft into Washington and New York. One Washington area lawyer driving through downtown at the time, who asked to remain anonymous for personal reasons, said she drove through a red light in a panicked effort to flee the area.
“I’m one of those Washingtonians who saw the low-flying plane and wondered whether it was a terrorist attack or a plane about to crash,” Daniel Fried, a former veteran U.S. diplomat, posted on X. “Glad it was neither but not a funny stunt.”
City government officials, who had not been in the loop, were not pleased.
“This flyover provided just fifteen minutes notice to anyone in downtown DC, at the Pentagon, or at National Airport,” the official account of the D.C. Council posted on X. “It startled many, including us.”
The stunt also prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to temporarily halt traffic at Ronald Reagan National Airport, which lies just a few miles outside the capital, Reuters reported, delaying more than 200 arriving and departing flights.
The U.S. military issued a public notice on Thursday at 5:23 p.m. of an “aircraft flyover” in the National Mall area; the alerts are posted online and also distributed by text message. A reporter covering the White House Halloween event said the first of two flyovers occurred at 5:45 p.m., as President Trump and his wife, Melania, were handing out candy to trick-or-treaters.
The plane in question was the Boeing 747-8 jet recently given to Mr. Trump by the government of Qatar to serve as a temporary Air Force One, and valued at $400 million. (Technically, a plane carries the call sign Air Force One only when the president is on board.)
A White House social media account made no apology for the surprise flight, posting a video of the jet soaring above a waving president. “An epic Air Force One flyover at the White House for the trick-or-treaters!” the White House’s rapid response office posted on X.
The display drew other positive reactions on social media. “It was so damn cool,” wrote Walter Smoloski, a Republican congressional aide.
Mr. Trump is a known fan of dramatic flyovers. When he hosted President Xi Jinping of China at the White House last month, a B-2 stealth bomber and other military aircraft soared low overhead.
After an event at a Baltimore shipyard this month, the Marine One helicopter carrying Mr. Trump back to Washington did an extended flyover of the event site as Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” blared at the venue.
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