Leaders of the Navy’s 80-year-old Blue Angels air exhibition squadron are conducting a safety review after a pilot flew over Florida beachgoers at low altitude.
The Blue Angels were doing a flyover on Wednesday over Pensacola Beach, and videos posted on social media showed one of the unit’s planes flying close to a beach full of people, with the wind generated by the aircraft kicking up sand and various items.
The flyover is an annual tradition called “Breakfast With the Blues.”
This week’s edition was leading up to the Pensacola Beach Air Show scheduled for Saturday. The Blue Angels are based out of Naval Air Station Pensacola.
Some onlookers had no issue with how close the plane got. Event attendee Ashley Korn told Pensacola’s WEAR-TV, “I’ve been coming for 10 years and I’ve never seen a pass like that in my life. I literally thought we were going to be taken out by Blue Angels, but it was amazing.”
Samantha Mayne, who also saw the flyover on the beach, told the TV station, “It was huge because it was so close. All of our tents got knocked down. … It was worth it. It was awesome.”
In a statement, a Blue Angels spokesperson said that “during an arrival maneuver, an aircraft flew lower than standard profiles, resulting in a disturbance on the beach that affected civilian chairs and umbrellas. … Team leadership is reviewing the circumstances surrounding the maneuver and conducting a thorough safety review to ensure all operations adhere to strict Navy and FAA safety standards,” according to the U.S. Naval Institute news service.
Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao addressed the situation Thursday, writing in a post on X: “Flight debrief complete. No reprimands. No firings. No problem. That’s the sound of Freedom! Semper fi and Hooyah” accompanied by a video of the flyover.
Local and national officials have expressed support for the Blue Angels and the flyover.
Escambia County Commissioner Ashlee Hofberger, a Republican whose district includes Pensacola Beach, told New Orleans’ Times-Picayune, “We love our Blue Angels. We support them fully,” adding that she had not heard any complaints or concerns from constituents.
On X, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said that “the flyovers will continue until morale improves,” while the White House account posted an AI-generated image of a Blue Squadron plane doing a flyover with the word “freedom” written capitalized below it and the caption “It’s okay to love America.”
