Blue Angels, Thunderbirds to fly over Atlanta on Saturday

ATLANTA — The U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels, and the U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron, the Thunderbirds, will honor front line responders and essential workers this Saturday in Atlanta.

A formation of the planes will fly over the city starting at 1:35 p.m. It will last for around 25 minutes. It was originally scheduled for 2:20 p.m. but was moved up on Thursday.

People along the flight path can expect to hear a few seconds of jet noise as they see 12 aircraft flying in formation overhead.

[RELATED: Blue Angels, Thunderbirds doing flyovers to thank first responders battling coronavirus pandemic]

This will be the second set of flyovers for the Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds, who flew over New York City this weekend. The squadrons will fly over Baltimore and then Washington, D.C., before making their way to Atlanta on Saturday.

“America Strong is a way for both teams to show appreciation to the thousands of doctors, nurses, first responders and essential workers out there serving on the front line day-in and day-out,” said Cmdr. Brian Kesselring, U.S. Navy Blue Angels commanding officer and flight leader for the flyover. “This is an extraordinary and unprecedented time but we will get through this. We are all in this together.”

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The flyovers have been in the works for more than a month. The two squadrons coordinated with numerous city and government offices to make them happen. Several more are planned in cities across the country in the coming weeks.

You should not travel to landmarks, hospitals or gather in large groups to view the special event. People are asked to watch the flyovers from their homes and share their experiences on social media.

“The teams welcome and encourage viewers to tag the demonstration teams at @AFThunderbirds and @BlueAngels the flyover on social media with the hashtag #AmericaStrong and #Inthistogether,” a spokesperson said in a release.

A detailed flight route will be released on Friday.

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