When to look up and catch Friday’s Air Force flyover in Thurston County
A mid-day Air Force flyover meant to honor frontline health-care workers and boost morale is planned for the Puget Sound region Friday, and its published route shows it’ll head toward Thurston County first.
The 62nd Airlift Wing’s salute is slated to include two C-17 Globemaster III planes and last from 12:30 to 3:10 p.m., according to the latest news release. The planned route includes more than 40 health-care facilities, plus other areas of interest.
According to the most recently published location list, the flyover plans to reach locations in the South Sound at roughly these estimated times:
- Madigan Army Medical Center, Joint Base Lewis-McChord: 12:31 p.m.
- Providence St. Peter Hospital, Olympia: 12:35 p.m.
- Washington State Capitol Building, Olympia: 12:35 p.m.
- Capital Medical Center, Olympia: 12:36 p.m.
Summit Pacific Medical Center, Elma: 12:41 p.m.
Mason General Hospital, Shelton: 12:47 p.m.
After that, the ships plan to head toward Bremerton and fly as far north as Coupeville before circling through the Seattle and Tacoma areas and finishing back at JBLM. However, “real-world airspace conflicts” could prevent flyovers at every planned location, according to the list.
Similar flyovers are being conducted all over the country.
“The 62nd AW salutes each American serving on the frontlines in combat against the COVID-19 pandemic,” said U.S. Air Force Col. Robert V. Lankford, commander of the 62nd Operations Group, in a prepared statement. “We are grateful for the opportunity to show our appreciation to local heroes, and look forward to a time when we can embrace one another without fear.”
The 62nd AW is encouraging members of the public to submit photos of the flyover via Facebook messenger to enter a contest. The winner gets a patch from the team performing the flight.
This story was originally published May 7, 2020 at 9:01 AM.
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