The Navy’s Blue Angels won’t be thrilling crowds in San Diego with their death-defying aerial acrobatics this year because concern over COVID-19 prompted Marine Corps officials to cancel the world’s largest airshow.
The Miramar Air Show had been scheduled for Sept. 24-26 at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. In past years, it has been one of the largest public events in San Diego, drawing as many as 500,000 guests and spectators from around the world.
In addition to the Blue Angels, the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force Red Arrows flight demonstration team and the U.S. Army’s Golden Knights parachute team had been scheduled to perform at this year’s event. Crowds also would have witnessed a mock dogfight in the air featuring a number of World War II-era fighters, including a P-51 Mustang and an FM2 Wildcat, officials said.
“While San Diego continues to lead the way in vaccines and is beginning to reopen, there are still a great many risks involved with a gathering on the scale of our airshow,” said Col. Charles Dockery, commander of MCAS Miramar.
Officials said they are going to concentrate on preparing for next year’s show.
“MCAS Miramar has always prioritized our community’s safety throughout the pandemic, beginning the moment we hosted evacuees from Wuhan to our daily operations delivering national defense and this decision is no different,” Col. Dockery said. “It remains the right choice to look ahead to 2022 and make it better than ever.”
