​FAA Tried to Block a July Fourth Flyover—NASA Did It Anyway

The FAA rejected a request on behalf of NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman to fly his personal, Cold War-era F-5 Tiger II fighter jets over the National Mall in Washington, D.C., as part of celebrations for America’s 250th anniversary.

The regulator cited safety concerns. But the space agency found a workaround to the FAA’s objections.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Isaacman said he transferred control of the F-5s—which since January have been used to reward NASA personnel with “employee incentive flights”—from his company JDI Holdings to the space agency. That allowed him to avoid the FAA’s scrutiny and move forward with the flyover.

“The FAA conducted a standard safety review for a privately owned, experimental aircraft,” the agency said in a statement shared with FLYING. “Once the aircraft was transferred to NASA, it became a ‘public use’ (or government) aircraft. The responsibility for the operation falls to that specific government agency, not the FAA.”

The agency classifies most ex-military jets in civilian hands as experimental aircraft. Isaacman told the Journal he believed that using the F-5s for the flyover would be covered by regulations for government rather than civilian aviation.

“It never should have been a civil operation from the get-go,” he said.

Isaacman cofounded Draken International, which provides combat training for military pilots. The company also claims to own and operate the world’s largest fleet of privately owned, former military aircraft—including F-16s, Douglas A-4 Skyhawks, Dassault Mirage F1Ms, and MiG-21 Fishbeds—with which it provides contract military services, including for members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

What Went Down

Per the FAA’s public notice, Isaacman enlisted a senior adviser to petition the FAA for an exemption on behalf of JDI Holdings. As of Sunday, the company owned three of the four F-5s that the NASA administrator sought to fly over the National Mall, per the FAA aircraft registry.

According to the petition, the aerial review was backed by NASA and the White House, and the aircraft would be flown by active space agency and U.S. Air Force pilots.

“Petitioner contends that the selected route strategically minimizes densely populated areas, incorporates readily accessible emergency ejection zones, and prioritizes an immediate southerly diversion towards the landing airfield,” the notice stated.

The FAA, though, denied the request, contending that flying the fighter jets over densely populated areas would “adversely affect safety.”

The regulator considers the F-5 to be a “very high-risk aircraft,” in part because a single system failure—such as the loss of either of its hydraulic flight control systems—would render the aircraft uncontrollable, it said. The model has a recommended clean airspeed greater than 250 knots when flying below 10,000 feet msl, which per the FAA raises the risk of a collision at lower altitudes. At that speed, pilots have less time for see-and-avoid maneuvers and must make wider turns, for example.

The regulator also determined that because the F-5 requires ejection in the event of an engine or other system failure, it could cause the uncontrolled aircraft to crash in a populated area. The notice cited a 1987 incident during which an Air Force A-7 Corsair II crashed into a hotel in Indianapolis after the pilot ejected, killing 10 people.

Isaacman’s adviser argued that the FAA has previously approved routes similar to the one requested for Saturday’s flyover. However, the agency said the routes it has approved do not overfly populated areas of metropolitan Washington, D.C., as the requested route would have. It clarified that it has signed off on flights that instead follow the Potomac River and avoid these areas.

“The FAA determined that the proposed safety mitigation is insufficient for an aircraft with an experimental certificate that meets two of the very high-risk factors to operate over a densely populated area,” the notice read.

The Journal and Washington Post reported that Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stood by the FAA’s safety ruling, which prompted President Donald Trump to get involved. A source told ABC News that Duffy was unaware of the petition and did not opine on the review process.

The Journal also reported that FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford wished Isaacman well before the flyover on Saturday.

Sources told the Post that Isaacman wanted to bring a who’s who of federal officials on the F-5s, including acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino. Ultimately, none of them flew on the fighter jets with the exception of Blanche.