COVID-19: Jets pay tribute to healthcare workers with 'ceremonial flyover' over New York

With one of its kind gesture, United States military flight squadrons paid tribute to all the health care workers, first responders and other essential workers on April 28. According to reports, twelve fighter jets of the air’s force’s Thunderbirds and navy’s Blue Angels streaked above New York’s Big Apple in a “collaborative salute”.

According to reports, the military planes were sent circling New York and New Jersey which are the worst affected states in the country. The planes then flew off to Philadelphia in Pennsylvania. This comes as the COVID-19 has now infected 1,035,765 across the US.

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'Opportunity to salute'

Speaking to international media reporters, Blue Angels commander, Brian Kesselring, said that they felt incredibly honoured to have the "opportunity to salute" those who were working on the frontline of the COVID-19 response. Lauding essential workers, he added that the US military was in awe of the workers' "strength and resilience." Elaborating further in a statement, he said, "the flypast took more than a month to plan and was the first of several planned around the country over the coming weeks."

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