FourLeaf Air Show at Jones Beach draws nearly 270,000 people

Nearly 270,000 people poured into Jones Beach State Park on Sunday for the annual FourLeaf Air Show, which for the first time this year featured several Air Force units from across the Atlantic.

Sunday's show marking the country's 250th anniversary saw the second-highest attendance in the event's history, organizers said, at 268,000. The record was 271,000 people in 2006.

The U.S. Army Golden Knights parachute team kicked off the day, floating down to the beach with a giant American flag as the crowd cheered. Air Force units from the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and Canada also performed.

As spectators wearing red, white and blue craned their necks to watch the impressive performance thousands of feet overhead, Squadron Leader Stuart Roberts of the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force Red Arrows reflected on his childhood dream.

"I always wanted to be involved in flying," Roberts said. "It’s amazing."

Roberts joined the Red Arrows for the 2022 season and was promoted to squadron leader ahead of the 2026 season.

"When you go and execute that mission, you don’t have a huge amount of time to look out the window because you don’t want to mess up what you’re doing," he told Newsday. "We spend six months working up the show each year. You do the reps and the reps and the reps, and by the time you start flying the show, it doesn’t even matter who you’re doing it in front of because you’re just locked in."

Oliver Christian, the British consul general in New York, watched as dozens of Long Islanders lined up to pose for photos with the British men and women in uniform.

Why was the Royal Air Force here for the Jones Beach air show? According to Christian, "Showing the commitment, the relationship between the UK and the U.S. How deep it is on the military side, but also from our people and our values that hold us together as the longest-standing, deepest allies."

Sunday’s event was the Red Arrows’ first show on Long Island, but it was the first-ever performance in the United States for the United Arab Emirates’ Fursan Al Emarat aerobatic display team.

"It’s really an honor," said Mohamed Alsuwaidi, an adviser for the U.A.E. unit.

Getting to Long Island was no easy feat. The group brought eight planes, eight pilots, and a team of technicians working behind the scenes across the Atlantic with stops in Greece and Portugal, Alsuwaidi said, with some delicate in-the-air refueling along the way.

Sunday’s event was almost flawless. About halfway through the air show, a civilian drone appeared overhead. "Looks like someone’s going to prison," the announcer said.

Then at around 1 p.m., a pilot with the Canadian Snowbirds collided with a bird, organizers said. No one was injured, but the pilot flew the plane back to Republic Airport in East Farmingdale as a precaution.

But nothing stopped the party Sunday. Strutting down the boardwalk in an Uncle Sam hat three times the size of his head, Frank Gatto was one of many people whose outfits were dripping with patriotism.

"It’s a privilege being here," Gatto, 59, of Farmingdale said. "Our freedom, celebrating America’s birthday. I think it’s great."

Just after 2 p.m., hundreds of necks craned and jaws dropped across miles of boardwalk as the renowned Blue Angels took to the skies. Speeding at more than 300 miles per hour, the U.S. Navy’s demonstration squad performed delicate formations and spun 360 degrees thousands of feet in the air.

As fans cheered on the Blue Angels, the Golden Knights packed up their parachutes on a grassy area away from the crowds. 

Staff Sgt. Adrian Lara said jumping from a plane 12,500 feet in the air was the obvious solution to his childhood fear of heights.

"Growing up, my mother always told me to overcome my fears," Lara, 27, told Newsday. "This was my way to overcome my fears and show my mom that she raised me right."

Hailing from Farmerville, Louisiana, Lara joined the Army 10 years ago. He has completed more than 625 sky dives, he said. "I’m feeling ecstatic ... You should see it from my point of view!"

The Air Show was expected to repeat on Monday, weather permitting, with the same schedule of events, beginning at 10 a.m.