A Fayetteville firefighter and paramedic is swapping his turnout gear for a flight suit this week, climbing into the backseat of a U.S. Navy Blue Angels F/A-18 Super Hornet over Peachtree City. Ryan Hyde's 45-minute flight is set for Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. at Atlanta Regional Airport, where he will pull through rolls, loops and intense turns thousands of feet above the ground he has spent nearly 13 years protecting.
Hyde was selected to fly with the Blue Angels as part of the team's Key Influencer program, which Atlanta air show officials say honors deserving local community members, according to FOX 5 Atlanta. He has spent over eight of his nearly 13 years in public safety with the City of Fayetteville Fire Department, building a record that caught the attention of air show organizers ahead of this week's event.
A Career Built on Split-Second Saves
Hyde's selection comes just months after one of the more dramatic calls of his career. The outlet reports that in February, Hyde and a fellow first responder successfully resuscitated a child who had gone into cardiac arrest, the kind of outcome that defines a paramedic's work far more than any ride-along ever could.
His community involvement extends beyond emergency calls. The Fayette Chamber of Commerce presented Hyde with the Braveheart Public Safety Award for leadership and bravery, and he directs the fire department's breast cancer awareness shirt campaign, which sells specially designed shirts to raise funds directly for local residents facing the disease, the station notes.
What the Key Influencer Program Looks For
The Blue Angels' Key Influencer designation is not unique to Hyde. The program is generally defined as recognizing people who help shape the attitudes of youth in their communities, according to The New Bern Sun Journal, which also reports the program aims to promote community achievements while inspiring young people to pursue their own goals. Past Key Influencer flights have gone to educators, coaches and mentors elsewhere in the country, including a Charleston-area STEM teacher who flew in an F/A-18 Super Hornet as the 2026 honoree, as reported by ABC News 4.
Other recent influencer flights have gone to a New Bern, North Carolina, teacher and soccer coach who spent about an hour in the air with a Blue Angels pilot at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, and a Greater St. Louis Area Scouts leader selected for his continued community service and youth involvement, per a 2022 flight documented by DVIDS Hub.
Air Show Set for Halloween Weekend
Hyde's flight serves as a preview for the Atlanta Air Show, which the FOX 5 report states will run from Oct. 31 to Nov. 1 at Atlanta Regional Airport. The event marks the seventh stop on the 2026 Air Dot Show Tour. Along with the headlining Blue Angels, the lineup features the F-16 Viper Demo Team, the C-17 Globemaster III Demo Team, the Full Throttle Formation Team, a P-51 Mustang demo, and aerobatic pilots Michael Goulian and Buck Roetman, per the same report.
Tickets for the weekend start at $34.50, according to the Fayette County News. Officials have not yet announced the full daily schedule of flight times for the weekend performances, the station adds, so spectators hoping to catch the Blue Angels or the rest of the lineup will need to watch for further updates before Halloween weekend arrives.
