Obama's plane flying low in Manhattan

I was shocked when I saw on TV that the White House authorized a low fly by past the Statue of Liberty at a cost of $328,000 for just a photo op with one of Obama's 747's. How could they not realize the citizens and people in lower Manhattan would panc and think they were under attack again like on 9/11? It's just amazing to me how some people can get so high up in the most powerful government in the world and make mistakes like that. I feel for the people that were scared by the flyover. Seeing that huge plane flying so low so close to ground zero was a pretty eerie sight to me, how about you?