The NASA Administrator Flew Unsafe Jets Over a Crowd of 150,000 People Because Donald Trump Wanted the Optics
The Federal Aviation Administration denied the request on June 30. The language was unambiguous.
Senior FAA official Hugh J. Thomas deemed the aircraft “very high-risk” to operate over densely populated areas with a lack of emergency landing zones. The jets in question were 1970s-era Northrop F-5 Tiger IIs — the FAA cited concerns about their flight controls, ejection systems, and prior crashes. In his denial, Thomas wrote that “a single system failure will render the aircraft uncontrollable.”
A single system failure will render the aircraft uncontrollable. Over the National Mall. On the Fourth of July. With 150,000 Americans standing below.
The answer was no.
A dispute among Cabinet officials over who could ride in the jets escalated to President Donald Trump, who gave the go-ahead to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche despite prior objections from Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. Duffy, who oversees the FAA, approved of the agency’s safety ruling and didn’t intervene.
Trump intervened instead. The president of the United States overruled the safety determination of the agency responsible for aviation safety in America so that his acting Attorney General could have a joyride in a 50-year-old fighter jet over the nation’s capital on its 250th birthday.
The Workaround
Jared Isaacman — billionaire, pilot, NASA Administrator, and owner of one of the world’s largest privately held fleets of military fighter jets — was not going to let a federal safety determination stop his air show. NASA bypassed the FAA’s restrictions by transferring Isaacman’s aircraft from private to public use under the space agency, allowing the aerial demonstration to continue despite the FAA ruling.
Isaacman told the Wall Street Journal the aircraft titles had not actually been transferred — the FAA registry still listed his company, JDI Holdings, as the owner of three of the four aircraft. The planes were, on paper, reclassified as government aircraft. They were not, in any meaningful sense, government aircraft. They were Isaacman’s personal vintage fighter jets — the same jets the FAA had just called very high-risk — now flying over the National Mall because they had been relabeled.
The FAA wrote in a statement: “The FAA conducted a standard safety review for a privately owned, experimental aircraft. Once the aircraft was transferred to NASA, it became a ‘public use’ aircraft. The responsibility for the operation falls to that specific government agency, not the FAA.”
Translated: the FAA said no, and then Isaacman changed the paperwork so the FAA no longer had jurisdiction. The safety assessment did not change. The aircraft did not change. The 150,000 people standing below did not change. The loophole changed.
Aviation law experts noted the move’s questionable legality. Federal law defines a public aircraft as one “used only for the United States Government,” and an aircraft loses that status when it carries passengers who are not crew or qualified non-crewmembers. The statute does not make a recorded transfer of title the only possible route to public-aircraft status, but it does require the operation to meet the governing conditions. Blanche rode in the cockpit. He is not a crewmember. He is the acting Attorney General of the United States on a joyride. Whether his presence made the flight legally a civilian operation — and therefore in violation of the FAA’s denial — is not a question anyone in this administration appears interested in pursuing.
The Guest List
Isaacman had initially planned a broader celebration. He had invited Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino, and senior Trump adviser Chris LaCivita on board — but their rides were canceled. When the FAA denial came and the workaround had to be hastily assembled, the passenger manifest shrank. But one guest remained. Blanche ultimately did ride in the cockpit with Isaacman for the flyover. Blanche wrote on X: “It was an honor to fly over the National Mall with Isaacman as part of America’s 250th celebration.”
Todd Blanche. The acting Attorney General. The man who rewrote the Bureau of Prisons manual so he could put anyone anywhere. The man who is now being confirmed as the permanent Attorney General. He was the one passenger who made it onto the plane over the National Mall, over the 150,000 people below, in the aircraft the FAA had just described as capable of becoming uncontrollable with a single system failure.
Trump was asked about this. He encouraged it.
The FAA administrator, Bryan Bedford, sent Isaacman a text wishing him well before the flyover. The man who runs the agency that denied the flight texted the pilot who was about to take it good luck. This is regulatory capture expressed as a text message.
What “Very High Risk” Actually Means
Let us be specific about what the FAA was trying to prevent.
The Northrop F-5 Tiger II was introduced in 1972. It is a combat aircraft designed for the Cold War. Its ejection system — which exists because the aircraft is understood to be vulnerable to the kind of catastrophic failure that requires the pilot to exit the aircraft immediately — was flagged as a concern by the FAA. Its flight controls were flagged as a concern. Its prior crash record was flagged as a concern.
An aircraft flagged for ejection system concerns was flown over the National Mall. If a pilot needs to eject over the National Mall, there is nowhere to go. There are no emergency landing zones. There are monuments and memorials and reflecting pools and 150,000 people. The FAA’s concern was specifically that a mechanical failure would have consequences well beyond the crew.
The administration that has spent 18 months expanding aviation safety deregulation — cutting FAA staff, reducing oversight, approving waivers — spent the Fourth of July flying a 50-year-old fighter jet over the largest crowd in Washington D.C. in years, after the FAA said not to, because the president told the acting Attorney General it was fine.
The Sentence That Ends the Story
A White House spokeswoman said: “The successful air show, record-breaking fireworks display, and President Trump’s incredible speech combined to make our Nation’s 250th birthday celebration one for the ages.”
They are grateful it went well.
The FAA said it was very high-risk. The Transportation Secretary approved the denial. The White House Cabinet Affairs office tried to appeal and failed. The president stepped in anyway. The planes flew. The crowd was below. Nothing went wrong.
Nothing went wrong this time. Over 150,000 people. In aircraft the FAA called capable of becoming uncontrollable with a single system failure. Because a billionaire NASA administrator wanted the optics and the president said just do it.
The standard for “acceptable risk” in this administration is not “is it safe.” The standard is “did it work out.” Those are not the same standard. The second one only looks the same as the first in hindsight.