You may have heard the U.S. Navy Blue Angels and U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds are planning something big in the Philadelphia region.
Rumors and an alleged draft procedures bulletin from Philadelphia International Airport air traffic control circulated on social media starting Tuesday and continued into Wednesday. The document stated that the jet demonstration teams would be performing a flyby for front line health care workers from Trenton to Philadelphia to Wilmington and along the Delaware River.
The draft document from Philadelphia stated that 15 military aircraft would perform in the flyover.
In New York City, a similar rumor circulated.
The jets, according to the draft bulletin, would be flying out of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey, about 12 miles from Lower Bucks County. The public affairs staff at the base did not return a request for comment.
The public affairs office for the Thunderbirds, which are based at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, did not respond for requests for comment on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Chief Mass Communication Specialist Chad V. Pritt, speaking on behalf of the Naval Air Station Pensacola-based Blue Angels, told LevittownNow.com that “final details are still being put together,” but he did not release more on locations or times.
Pritt did state that flyover times and routes would be provided to local municipalities one to two days before any event were to happen.
Several Lower Bucks County municipal officials said they were not aware of any flyover, and Philadelphia officials did not make any announcements.
On social media, residents in Pensacola, Florida, posted videos and images of the two military jet demonstration teams practicing on Tuesday.
Airshowstuff.com reported that there has been “speculation” that the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds might be planning a nationwide set of flyovers to salute those on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Due to the pandemic, the Blue Angels’ and Thunderbirds’ upcoming shows have been postponed or cancelled.
Recently, the Thunderbirds performed flybys of cities in the west.
