Tonight ABC's World News reported that last month the pilot of Obama's campaign plane declared an emergency after one of the plane's emergency exit slides deployed in flight and the pilot lost full pitch control of the aircraft.
Earlier the FAA said that the pilot had NOT declared an emergency. When the plane descended below 10,000 feet the pilot regained full pitch control and the plane was able to land normally.
EXCLUSIVE: FAA Tapes Reveal Drama of Obama Jet Incident
Audio Contradicts FAA Account of "No Emergency"
The incident involving Sen. Barack Obama's campaign plane last month was much more serious than the airline or the Federal Aviation Administration said, according to FAA control tower tapes obtained by ABC News.
At the time, an FAA spokesperson said the pilot did not declare an emergency and the airline owner, Midwest Airlines, said safety "was never an issue."
The tapes, to be broadcast tonight on ABC News' World News with Charles Gibson, show otherwise.
Just 41 seconds after discovering he no longer had full control of the plane's up and down movements, the pilot told an FAA air traffic controller "at this time we would like to declare an emergency and also have CFR [crash equipment] standing by in St. Louis."
An FAA spokesperson acknowledged today that its statements at the time of "no emergency" were wrong, based, the spokesperson said, on erroneous reports from FAA air traffic managers.
What if the reports from the FAA air traffic managers in St. Louis last month were correct? Was there a political decision to downplay how serious the situation the Obama Campaign plane was in so that the national press wouldn't focus more attention on Obama in what was sure to be a sympathetic story?
It sure looks that way to me.
In what looks like a classic buck passing tactic the FAA blames their St. Louis field operation for the mistake.
If this was a political decision, what political appointee at the FAA made the call?
I think House Transportation Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar Mn., and Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye, Hi. should look into this matter.