Trump urged Todd Blanche to join July 4 military flyover despite FAA safety concerns: Report
WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump reportedly encouraged acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to join a July 4 military flyover after federal aviation officials raised safety objections to the planned fighter jet formation.
The FAA had refused to clear the private jets, and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy backed the agency's ruling. Trump's reported intervention came after Blanche told him he was disappointed about missing the flight.
FAA rejects fighter jets over safety concerns
The dispute centered on NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman's plan to fly his personal collection of F-5 Tiger II fighter jets during Saturday's nine-hour parade of military aircraft, according to a Washington Post report published Tuesday, July 7.
Isaacman, who made a fortune in payment processing and co-founded a company that trains US pilots, owns one of the world's largest private fighter jet collections, the report said.
He sought permission from the Federal Aviation Administration to include the jets in the aerial review, it added.
“But Hugh J Thomas, a 24-year FAA veteran who directs the agency’s Flight Standards Service, determined that flying them over a densely populated area was too risky,” it stated.
“A single system failure will render the aircraft uncontrollable,” Thomas warned, according to the report. The FAA refused to change its decision after an appeal. Duffy also agreed with the agency's ruling, putting the planned formation in doubt.
Trump intervenes in July 4 flyover dispute
Trump then became personally involved, according to the report.
The official White House X account posted a video previewing Isaacman's plan to fly in the parade, a move the report described as being “seen as a nod in his favor.”
NASA later classified the jets as “public use” on an ad hoc basis, allowing the flight to bypass the FAA restrictions, according to the report.
By then, however, the delay had created another problem. “It was too late for most of the planned VIP passengers to join the ride,” the report said. Blanche still wanted to participate, it stated.
After he mentioned his disappointment to Trump, the president “encouraged him to go,” according to an insider source cited in the report.
That reportedly placed Trump's personal intervention at the center of a dispute that had already drawn objections from the FAA and support for the agency's ruling from Duffy.
Trump encouraged Todd Blanche to join flyover
The report adds a personal dimension to the dispute over Isaacman's fighter jets: Blanche's participation came after he directly expressed his disappointment to Trump and received encouragement from the president.
Isaacman, according to the report, is also described as a close ally of tech billionaire Elon Musk. Trump initially withdrew Isaacman's NASA nomination before later reversing that decision, a move the report said became a major factor in Trump's falling out with Musk last year.
The July 4 flight ultimately moved forward after NASA's “public use” classification, despite the FAA's earlier assessment that the jets were too risky to fly over a densely populated area and Thomas' warning that “a single system failure” could leave an aircraft uncontrollable.
