NEW ORLEANS — The Blue Angels, the Navy's elite flying squadron, flew over the city of New Orleans in a salute to New Orleans' front line workers battling the coronavirus.
The Blue Angels sent out a Tweet that New Orleans would be one of the flyover cities on Wednesday, to "...salute and thank all healthcare workers, first responders and other essential personnel serving on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19."
The flight over the area lasted only about 20 minutes, and while most people only saw them for about 4 minutes or so, but during that time, they put on quite a show with sound and visuals.
Smoke was released at one point, drawing oohs and aahs from the crowds on building rooftops at medical complexes.
The F-18 fighters will flew in from LaPlace and went over Avondale and Westwego. Then, they flew across the Mississippi River and directly across New Orleans, from Uptown to the end of New Orleans East.
They reached the heart of New Orleans East by 1:52 p.m.
They'll loop around over Lake Pontchartrain and up to the Northshore from Slidell to Mandeville, then came back across New Orleans a second time before crossing the river again, flying over Harvey and Marrero and then exiting through St. Bernard Parish.
PHOTOS: Blue Angels salutes New Orleans' healthcare workers
It's all part of the "America Strong" campaign to show support to workers battling the coronavirus, which has flown over several cities across the U.S. so far. The Blue Angels will be coming from their flyovers of the Dallas and Houston areas before New Orleans.
It comes after a flyover of New Orleans by the U.S. Air Force and Louisiana National Guard last week that captured the attention of thousands.
Last week's flyover drew a lot of attention across the New Orleans area as two massive two massive B-52 "Stratofortresses" took flight from the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans, soaring over the city flanked by two F-15 Strike Eagles from the 159th Fighter Wing out of New Orleans.
PHOTOS: Military flyover honors New Orleans area coronavirus workers
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.
