White House Calls New York City Flyover 'Stupid'

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Wednesday a photo-op featuring the presidential jet flying over the Manhattan skyline was as "stupid a thing to do as one could dream up."

During an interview on Air Force One, Gibbs said if President Obama had had "any knowledge of the stupid idea to go take pictures of the plane in New York, I can assure you that wouldn't have happened."

The ill-conceived flight mission, which aimed to captured a photo of an Air Force One backup plane with the Statue of Liberty in the background, sent thousands of New Yorkers running for their lives with memories of the Sept 11., 2001, terrorist attacks on their minds -- and sent officials in Washington, D.C., running for political cover.

In an interview with MSNBC later in the day, Gibbs said,  "This was a dumb idea on just about every level that you want to analyze it on. "I would certainly agree with that. The president would agree with that.

"He was furious when we told him about it and he's asked that the deputy chief of staff look into how a decision like this got made and to ensure that it never happens again," he said. "And that's what we're doing right now."

It may be the one issue on which Gibbs and Republican Sen. Kit Bond agree.

Calling it a "glamour shot," Bond said the "stunt is a symbol of how far from their minds the attacks of Sept. 11 are."

White House Military Office Director Louis Caldera accepted responsibility and apologized late Monday for permitting the exercise that infuriated New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who had not been alerted to the flyover.

The White House has said Bloomberg's office was informed but "apparently" word of the planned mission did not make it up the chain of command.

President Obama called it "a mistake" on Tuesday.

"It was something we found out about along with all of you," he said after a meeting with FBI Director Robert Mueller. "And it will not happen again."

The mission cost $328,835, which includes personnel, maintenance and fuel costs, according to the Air Force, which said the hours would have been flown regardless and the expenses accrued on a different mission.