NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman flew private military jets over Washington, D.C., in a flyover Saturday — with Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche as a passenger — despite safety objections from the Federal Aviation Administration.
In an unusual move, a senior adviser to the NASA administrator petitioned the FAA on behalf of Isaacman’s private jet company, JDI Holdings, to participate in the aerial demonstrations over the National Mall during the America 250 celebrations in Washington.
Isaacman, who made his fortune through a payment processing company Shift4 Payments, also co-founded Draken International, a defense contracting company that also holds one of the world’s largest privately owned fleets of military fighter jets.
The petition sought to have four Northrop F-5 Tiger II aircraft from Isaacman’s private fleet, flown by NASA pilots and U.S. Air Force pilots, participate in the flyover, according to publicly released documents. The petitioner also noted that the request was “sponsored by the White House and NASA.”
The FAA denied the request on June 30, deeming the Cold War-era F-5 fighter jet as “very high-risk” to operate over densely populated areas with a lack of emergency landing zones. The denial called the F-5 “an aircraft for which a single system failure will render the aircraft uncontrollable.” The decision was signed by Hugh Thomas, the veteran director of the Flight Standards Service.
Still, Isaacman pushed forward with the flyover. NASA bypassed the review’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.
“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” (or government) aircraft,” the FAA wrote in a statement to CBS News. “The responsibility for the operation falls to that specific government agency, not the FAA.”
Jared Isaacman 
A source familiar with the review process said Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy was unaware of the initial flyover request by Isaacman and did not weigh in on the review process as Isaacman pressed on with the flyover. Requests of that nature go directly to career safety inspectors and political appointees are not involved in the process.
Duffy’s department oversees the FAA. The Department of Transportation declined to comment.
The Wall Street Journal was first to report on the FAA’s concerns.
Deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino and former Trump 2024 campaign manager Chris LaCivita were invited to fly in the cockpit of the fighter jets during the flyover, according to an X post by Scavino and a source familiar with LaCivita’s plans, but their excursion was later scrapped.
Blanche ultimately did ride in the cockpit with Isaacman for the flyover.
In a post on X, Blanche wrote, “it was an honor to fly over the National Mall with [Isaacman] as part of America’s 250th celebration.”
Isaacman, who has a pilot’s license, wrote on X: “I had the privilege of flying [Blanche] over the National Mall.”
An administration official said the White House was “grateful for NASA’s contribution to the incredible air show.”
“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,” Liz Huston, a White House spokeswoman, said.
