Local

Attendees enjoy Blue Angels air show despite traffic nightmare

Jacksonville, Fla. — Traffic that backed up for miles caused some people to miss a chunk of the annual NAS Jax Air Show this weekend.

Many attendees told us they spent hours in their cars trying to get onto the base to watch the event.

The air show is known for planes doing intricate maneuvers, free-falling stunts and jets soaring through the sky at the military base.

🇺🇸🇺🇸BLUE ANGELS IN JACKSONVILLE: Did you get to see the air show today? Here's some great video of the Blue Angels demonstration at NAS Jax:

Posted by Action News Jax on Saturday, November 4, 2017

People said the aircrafts were a magnificent sight; however, the miles-long traffic snarl was frustrating for some.

“The traffic was pretty ridiculous. We were way down there earlier and I was like, 'I’m not going to sit in this,'” Zachary McDonald said.

Viewers sent us cellphone videos, and pictures as attendees crawled along U.S. 17 trying to make their way to the show.

“The traffic was bad. If you want to come here, you have to get here early,” Jerry Tillman said.

People took to social media to express their frustrations about the traffic setup.

Some spectators told Action News Jax they were in traffic for hours and barely moved a block as they tried to get onto base. Many drivers said they ditched that idea and found a parking lot to watch the annual event.

“Of course we couldn’t get on the base because it’s not moving, but we got this spot here and we are lucky,” Jermaine Singleton said.

Minus the traffic logistics, many people told us they just wanted to be in place for the Blue Angels.

“I’m excited about the Blue Angels. This is my first time seeing them flying across and doing amazing tricks,” Honesty Lewis said.

We’ve reached out to the spokesperson for NAS Jax about the traffic concerns, but we did not hear back before news time.