The White House, United States Department of Defense and a cohort of prominent members of the government took to social media on Thursday to show their support for the Blue Angels, who were accused of flying too close to crowds during a Pensacola Beach flyover.
The Blue Angels on Wednesday circled over their hometown beach, performing a series of passes and maneuvers for a record crowd. The event, known as “Breakfast with the Blues,” serves as the official kickoff for the Pensacola Beach Air Show, and it allows the team’s elite pilots to mark the show’s coordinates.
The Navy was alerted about a potential safety incident on Wednesday after videos posted to Facebook showed one jet flying unusually close to the pack-out beach, kicking up sand and blowing away a few umbrellas and tents.
During a press availability on July 16 at NAS Pensacola, Blue Angels commanding officer and lead pilot Capt. Adam Bryan told the News Journal and other reporters that the pass was unsafe because the aircraft was too low when it flew over the crowd at the beach.
“We’ve been taking a heavy look at yesterday to ensure that we are doing things first and foremost safe,” Bryan said. “The pilot found himself unfortunately in a situation that we would deem unsafe over the beach. We never intend to fly over the crowd that low, and we’ll heavily debrief it, ensure that one, we continue on with safe flight demonstrations, and that we learn from those different things that happen from this team.”
Bryan added that every maneuver of every flight is “heavily debriefed” back on the ground, and it’s how the team gets better each flight while remaining safe.
Being safe doesn’t mean the Blue Angels will be throttling anything back, however.
“What you’ll see from our flight demonstration is going to be what the public, what this town, what our team expects today,” Bryan said. “So there’s not going to be any difference in how we go out there and fly. In fact, if we go to try to fly and be cautious, that actually becomes more dangerous for us. So we’re going to train to our standards, and we’re going to learn from the things that happen before us to ensure that we do things the most safe we can.”
The Blue Angel also issued an official statement on July 15 saying it was conducting a safety review of the flyover.
“The safety of our hometown community, spectators, and our pilots is our highest priority,” the statement said. “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.”
Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons recounted his personal experience from Wednesday’s flyover in a social media post on Thursday afternoon.
“On Wednesday, July 15th, during an event labeled Breakfast with the Blues, a low flyover was conducted. This flyover involved the disruption of several tents and blankets on the beachfront. There were no injuries reported to us.
I was on the beach during yesterday morning’s flyover and joined thousands of others in cheering on the precision and power of the Blue Angels’ Demonstration Team. Anyone describing this maneuver to be anything other than a spectacular and powerful moment of national pride is off base. We are proud of our Blue Angels!”
The low Blue Angels flyover received national attention after ABC News ran a short video segment on the incident. The segment seemed to spark unwarranted fears that the Navy would cancel future flyovers and has prompted reactions from local lawmakers, the Department of Defense and even the White House.
White House reaction to the Blue Angels flyover
The White House posted an AI-generated illustration of a Blue Angels jet flying over a beach with the word “Freedom” written on it to X on Thursday morning. “It’s okay to love America,” the White House wrote.
Department of Defense, Pete Hegseth respond to Blue Angels flyover
Sean Parnell, the assistant to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, was the first official to respond to the incident on Thursday morning. He took a screenshot of the flyover video and superimposed the words “Carry on patriots” onto the image.
The Department of Defense and Hegseth both reshared the image. “The flyovers will continue until morale improves,” Hegseth added.
Eric Trump also weighed in
President Donald Trump’s son Eric Trump criticised ABC News’ coverage of the incident.
“Can’t stand the manufactured outrage by the low-T mainstream media. This was undoubtedly the highlight of these people’s day…,” he wrote in response to ABC News’ post showcasing the video clip.
How local lawmakers responded
House Rep. Michelle Salzman, who represents District 1, shared the image Parnell created on Facebook Thursday morning. She quoted what Hegseth posted to X and thanked him.
District 1 Rep. Jimmy Patronis shared the posts made by Eric Trump and the White House. “And love [heart emoji] the Blue Angels,” he wrote.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: White House, Pentagon rally behind Blue Angels after low beach flyover
Reporting by Brandon Girod and Jim Little, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Brandon Girod and Jim Little, Pensacola News Journal | USA TODAY Network
