Acting Navy secretary on Blue Angels flyover at Florida beach: ‘No problem’

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The Navy’s top civilian official is brushing off criticism over an unusually low-altitude Blue Angels flyover at Florida’s Pensacola Beach this week, saying there will be no punishments for the incident.

Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao said the service completed a flight debrief of the Wednesday flyover that sent tents and umbrellas flying during the annual “Breakfast with the Blues” air show event.

“No reprimands. No firings. No problem,” Cao posted to the social platform X on Thursday afternoon. “That’s the sound of Freedom! Semper fi and Hooyah.”

Video of the incident shared across social media showed the Navy’s flight demonstration squadron making a low pass over the shoreline. The thrust of the jets’ engines sent sand billowing into the air and beach chairs and other equipment blowing across the shore and hitting several people, with some spectators scrambling for cover.

The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office later said that while the flyover “involved the disruption of several tents and blankets on the beachfront,” no injuries were reported.

“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,” Sheriff Chip Simmons said in a statement. “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!”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also lauded the incident, posting to X: “The flyovers will continue until morale improves.”

But the unusually low altitude of the flyover prompted Blue Angels leadership to announce it was reviewing the show.

“The safety of our hometown community, spectators, and our pilots is our highest priority,” a Blue Angels spokesperson said in a statement to WEAR News.

“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,” they added.

Accidents have occurred with public flyovers, including a June 1994 incident in which an Air Force B-52 bomber crashed at Fairchild Air Force Base in Washington state after its pilot, Lt. Col. Arthur “Bud” Holland, maneuvered the aircraft beyond its operational limits and lost control. The accident killed Holland and the three other crew members on board.

The Blue Angels, based at Naval Air Station Pensacola, have performed their annual flyover event at Pensacola Beach for more than the past 80 years. The demonstration is reported to draw as many as 250,000 spectators to the shoreline annually.

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Blue Angels

Florida

Hung Cao

military flyover

Pensacola Beach

Pete Hegseth

U.S. Navy

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