Well, could be worse;
If they tried it in the U.S. Today there'd probably be some nut with a private Bofors or Stinger lounging on his porch !
In reality, methinks someone somewhere should have told the public who in a way were justified in being a little panicky; or am I missing something about PUBLIC relations opportunities ?
Then again, perhaps saying " we're going to fly a large knackered plane over you just before we retire it " would have REALLY caused a mass evacuation ( of every sort ).