WP: Military Helicopters Douse Boaters, Pilots Buzzed Tidal Basin

[diamond14]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A661-2004Apr9.html

Military Helicopters Douse Boaters
Army to Investigate Why Pilots Buzzed the Tidal Basin

By Liz Seymour
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, April 10, 2004; Page B03


Military helicopters flew so low over the Tidal Basin yesterday morning that they disturbed dozens of people in boats and soaked a few, an Army spokesman said. "It did happen," Maj. Allan Hing said. "I can't deny it."

The two helicopters were involved in a promotional demonstration, Hing said, adding that he did not know what the Army was promoting.

Two D.C. Air National Guard jets and two F-16 jet fighters flew near the Mall without advance notice earlier this week, disturbing many people who saw them and suspected a national security incident.


Television news footage of yesterday's incident showed two helicopters low over the Tidal Basin, kicking up spray and rocking boats, while clouds of petals from the nearby cherry trees swirled through the air. The helicopters appeared to be about 40 feet up.

[PfcHammer]

1. saw this on abc world news tonight yesterday

apparently the weather was nice so the crews were taking photographs
of one another

weirded out peeps in paddle boats and blew cherry blossoms off

not impressed

[Mika]

2. It wasn't possible for crews not to notice the problems they were causing

Did you see the video?

Simply irresponsible - especially "in these times" - even more so because of the panic that was caused by the Air Guard fly-over a couple of days ago.

[PfcHammer]

4. yeah, the package was titled "Tidal Basin" or "Tidal Wave"

it appeared the water was way to choppy for such a confined area

[mb7588a]

3. i dunno.

I live in D.C. - nothing like this surprises me anymore. Military aircraft are not rare.

Though the group of armed national guardsmen in fatigues in the 7/11 last night getting slurpies was amusing.

[grasswire]

5. every time I've boated on the Tidal Basin...

......I've seen the president's helicopters go overhead. Very low. But they never rocked the paddle boats or disturbed anyone.

Every time I saw them, I worried about how vulnerable they were. I envisioned scuba divers in the basin with some kind of weapon that would just tangle the rotors. I thought about writing a spy story about it. And that was in the early 1990s.

[LizW]

6. 3 copters buzzed down the Mall

The other day when we were there sightseeing. They were low and loud, but no one around us acted as if it was anything unusual.

This was a couple of days before the fighter jets incident. I would definitely have been concerned about that.

You know, we are just all more sensitive to low-flying aircraft since 9/11, and the military is going to have to get used to getting more complaints. They can't just buzz over people and not expect people to get frightened.

I live right under the takeoff and landing path of a small airport, and for years I didn't even hear the planes, I was so used to them. Now I catch myself pausing if one goes over that is a little too close or too loud. I have noticed that invariably the ones that come in too close, too fast or too loud are military.

[sam sarrha]

7. where.. what Tidal Basin...??

[RobinA]

8. I Woulda Been Out There

going, yes, yes!!! I LOVE jet noise.

Plus, the several times I've been in Washington there's always aircraft going on.

[mobuto]

9. I WAS THERE

I almost posted it on DU. There was a helicopter flying really low and erratically - I thought it was about to crash and traffic on Potomac Parkway came to a stop. It was really bizarre.

[Mikimouse]

10. Ummm, I know this is probably a stupid question, but...

if this was an unannounced stunt, then by all definitions of logic, I would have expected the fighters from Andrews to be scrambled to intercept. How did anyone know that there weren't terrorists flying those planes? Just a thought.

[sam sarrha]

11. WHERE WHERE WHERE.. TELL ME WHERE THIS WAS..

[OKNancy]

12. Washington DC

n/t

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

13. * is out of town, as is most of big targets

so, it was
a. probably scheduled with NPS and SS
b. not considered a threat because of some kind of password for it.