Obama’s 100th day marred by New York jet 9/11 gaffe

Barack Obama begins his 100th day as President of the United States tomorrow still smarting from the criticism for a terrible White House gaffe. When a jumbo jet flew low over New York on Monday, pursued by a fighter jet, thousands of terrified office workers poured onto the streets to avoid what they thought must be another 9/11-style terrorist attack. Only later did it become known that the plane was Air Force One, performing a flyover as part of a staged photo opportunity.

The Mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, has said that he was "furious" that such a stunt was allowed to happen, describing it as "an inconsiderate, badly conceived and insensitive photo op with the taxpayer's money”. And President Obama has also said that he was angry that the photo opportunity had been allowed to go ahead. "It was a mistake," he told reporters, "and it will not happen again."

It is the fourth notable apology Obama has had to make since he won the presidential election last November:

• While still President-elect, Obama was forced to apologise to former First Lady Nancy Reagan for suggesting that she held seances in the White House;

• In February, after his inauguration, when his nominee for Health Secretary, Tom Daschle, was forced to withdraw from consideration because of unpaid taxes, Obama famously said: "I screwed up";

• In March, the President claimed on Jay Leno's The Tonight Show that his bowling action was "like Special Olympics or something" and was again forced into contrition.

Meanwhile, the director of the White House military office, Louis Caldera, has accepted responsibility for the Air Force One stunt. "Last week, I approved a mission over New York. I take responsibility for that decision," he said. However, conservative pundits have suggested that an apology is not enough to make up for the panic the flight caused and that Obama should discipline Caldera.

"A key test of Obama is whether he holds the person who authorised it accountable, which at this point appears to be White House Military Office director Louis Caldera," says the National Review Online. "Such an astonishingly stupid idea - having a government airliner mimicking the 9/11 flight path, followed by a fighter jet, without warning the public, all in order to update a stock photo – warrants a lot more in response than 'I'm sorry'. The egregious judgment deserves a period of unpaid administrative leave at minimum; and outright dismissal is probably warranted."

Though Obam's approval ratings are currently hovering at around 67 per cent – still very high, but down from the stratospheric 83 per cent approval he enjoyed when he first took office – they are expected to drop further after Monday's backfiring stunt.

NOTE: Officially, the 747 jumbo is known as Air Force One only when the President is on board. And there are actually two jumbos available to him: only one took part in the stunt.