Eyes to the sky: Blue Angels, Thunderbirds fly over metro Atlanta

ATLANTA — The weather could not have been clearer for the show that thousands of metro Atlantans went outside to see.

The Air Force Thunderbirds and the Navy’s Blue Angels flew over metro Atlanta to honor our first responders and medical teams Saturday.

They began over the north metro, did a few loops and exited over the southwest metro.

All most people needed to do to enjoy the show was go outside and look up.

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The path made two passes right over the area of Northside, St. Josephs and Scotish Rite.

Channel 2′s Tyisha Fernandes was outside Grady Memorial Hospital, where some people watched the show from the roof. Fernandes saw kids hanging out of car sunroofs right along with doctors and nurses who enjoyed the moment of solidarity and support.

People started cheering as soon as they heard the rumble in the sky.

“It just sounded like a big engine or like a dryer or something,” witness Khalua Kinard said.

The flights began earlier this morning over Baltimore and Washington D.C. and then headed south.

The elite flying squads flew together in formation of a dozen fighter jets.

The “America Strong” tour already saluted New York City and Philadelphia before buzzing over Atlanta to honor our frontline medical workers.

“I think its almost like a moment of silence to just say, everybody just to pause and just say thank you to everybody,” viewer Melody Miles said “Everyone that’s been working so hard from healthcare to all the other essential workers that are out there working really hard to keep this country running.”

Maj. Zane J. Taylor, USAF Thunderbirds pilot said they want to salute as many as possible.

“Being able to provide hope to others I think is something so special,” Taylor said. “We do a lot of extensive planning to make the route fly through as many areas as possible."

The flyover started at 1:35 p.m. in Cobb County, flew over Kennestone, then down Interstate 75, over to Emory, then up over north Fulton and included a loop around Midtown and downtown for Grady and AMC and others, before hitting Clayton, Fayetteville and ending around 2 p.m. in Coweta County.

The jets were loud, but the pilots hope their message was louder.

“We want people to basically walk outside, and be able to look up and see it, and feel that sense of our country coming together since we’re all in this together,” Taylor said.

Navy Blue Angels and AF Thunderbirds fly over NYC and Philly honoring first responders Navy Blue Angels and AF Thunderbirds fly over NYC and Philly honoring first responders

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