Blue Angels to Fly Over Constitution Tomorrow

Blue Angels to fly over Boston
June 30, 2009 05:03 PM E


By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

The seven F/A-18 Hornets of the Blue Angels precision flying team will roar Wednesday afternoon over downtown Boston, a federal aviation official said today.

The planes will make one pass from south to north over the downtown area between 1:30 and 2 p.m., said Jim Peters, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.

"I don't have a specific area downtown where they will be, but obviously, everybody should be able to see seven F-18s flying over the downtown area," he said, estimating they would fly at about 3,000 feet.

A photo opportunity in which a presidential jet and a military plane flew low over downtown Manhattan in late April caused alarm in a city traumatized by 9/11. The White House official who took responsibility for the flight later resigned.

Peters said federal officials had notified the Boston mayor's office, the Boston Police, and the State Police and were reaching out through the media to "allay anyone's fears" about the flyover. He also said the planes would contact the air traffic controllers who manage traffic approaching Logan International Airport as they head into Boston.

Petty Officer Kurt Anderson, a Blue Angels, said far from being alarmed, people will like the demonstration.

"Of course, they're going to enjoy it. They're the Blue Angels," said Anderson.

Peters said plans had been scrapped for the Blue Angels to fly over the USS Constitution at the Charlestown Navy Yard. Peters said the Navy had wanted to get a photo of the planes with the venerable warship in the background, but the ship was under repair.