Blue Angels fly over Chicago to salute healthcare workers
The world-renowned Navy pilots have been paying tribute with a series of flyovers in major American cities.
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The flights are funded by existing operations costs as part of the groups community outreach programs.
Blue Angels fly over Chicago in salute to health care workers fighting COVID-19
The 15-minute flyover began at 11:45 a.m. as the Blue Angels flew west from the lakefront over Chicago's South Side, then southwest over Oak Lawn before turning northward and flying back over the city's Southwest Side, including Gage Park and Back of the Yards.
The flight path then took them from the South Loop to the Northwest Side by 11:51 a.m., turning south near Norridge and flying over the near western suburbs of Franklin Park, Northlake and Melrose Park.
Blue Angels fly over downtown Chicago as tribute to healthcare workers
The Blue Angels then headed east over Oak Park and the city's Southwest Side before heading north along the Kennedy Expressway. Cutting across Chicago's North Side, the pilots made a loop over Lake Michigan near the Evanston border, then flew south along Chicago's entire lakefront around noon.
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US Navy Blue Angels fly over Chicago in salute to health care workers
The lakefront remains closed, so people were being asked to watch the flyover from the safety of their own home. Officials discouraged people from traveling to see the flyover.
RELATED: Blue Angels, Thunderbirds to perform air shows honoring health care, essential workers during COVID-19 crisis
"I think it's awesome," said Annmarie McDonagh, director of emergency services at Cook County Hospital. "Our fire department has come out to salute our nurses, our police coming tomorrow for all of our hospital staff and then the Blue Angels, that is just super cool that they are flying over our hospital and Chicago and just saluting all of us. When I think of the Blue Angels, I think about their bravery and courage. And I think they are acknowledging our bravery and courage as well."
The Blue Angels also flew over Detroit Tuesday and headed to Indianapolis after Chicago.
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The Blue Angels have already visited New York, Newark, Philadelphia. Baltimore, Washington D.C., Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, New Orleans, Jacksonville and Miami.
ABC7 Flywitness News at the Chicago Air & Water Show
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RELATED: Social distancing ignored during East Coast flyover
The Blue Angels are a U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron based out of NAS Pensacola.
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