A large military airplane and two helicopters spooked some New Yorkers on Tuesday, who craned their necks upward to get a better glimpse of what was going on.
The plane, seen circling over Manhattan, prompted a number of people to tweet speculation and questions about the aircraft. Two Black Hawk helicopters were spotted nearby.
“This plane that’s been circling over (sic) manhattan is starting to freak me out,” one person wrote on the social media website.
Reports on Tuesday evening indicated that the plane was indeed a C-130 Hercules propeller plane, which was conducting aerial mapping for the U.S. Secret Service. The operation was likely linked to security surrounding President-elect Donald Trump and his family.
Went to an office window not expecting anything but just saw the plane that’s circling low over Manhattan, which I don’t love…..
— LoreenaMcKennittVEVO (@robertbalkovich) December 13, 2016
#Military #plane C-130? Circling around #Manhattan. Anyone have answers? pic.twitter.com/U6Q7r9bvmZ
— Sasha Moses (@sashamoses76) December 13, 2016
An unnamed Federal Aviation Administration official told Business Insider that the plane was “conducting authorized flights over New York City in coordination with FAA air traffic control.”
Washington Post reporter Thomas Gibbons-Neff spoke with Air Force Colonel Nicholas Broccoli, who told him the flight was part of “standard military training.”
An NYPD spokesperson told WCBS he would “have to call either the Secret Service or the military” for more details on the air exercises.