By Yepoka Yeebo
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — The Downtown skies were to have nine planes soaring through them as part of a scheduled flyover past the Statue of Liberty on Thursday morning.
The Brazilian Air Force Smoke Squadron was to fly eight T-27 Tucano turboprop airplanes and one C-130 turboprop plane past Lady Liberty for a photo opportunity.
The NYPD released information about the flyover to the press Thursday morning to avoid any panicked calls from residents.
"There will be no armament of any kind on any of the aircraft," police said in a statement.
"The T-27 Tucanos are not painted in a military paint scheme, but in the color scheme of the Brazilian flag (bright green and yellow)," the statement continued.
On Monday, two Air Force F-16 fighter jets flew over the West Side of Manhattan.
Police issued a warning in an attempt to avoid the massive panic that followed when Air Force One and an F-16 fighter plane circled lower Manhattan and Liberty Island at low altitude in April 2009.
Residents and workers in lower Manhattan made hundreds of panicked calls, and buildings were evacuated. It was later revealed that the unannounced flyover was actually for a photo shoot.
