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Waltham Navy pilot participates in historic all-female Super Bowl flyover

"I think if you told my 10-year-old self that I would be doing this, I would tell you, 'Okay, sure.'"

Lieutenant Jacqueline Drew from Waltham. U.S. NAVY

By Melissa Ellin

1 minute to read

While the Patriots weren’t on the field for this year’s Super Bowl, one Waltham native made sure Massachusetts was represented off of it – and more specifically, above it.

Jacqueline Drew, a Navy pilot who grew up in Waltham, was one of the 27 female pilots to take part in the Super Bowl LVII flyover. WHDH reports she ran radio communications for the flyers.

The flyover above State Farm Stadium was the first to feature a team of female pilots, as it commemorated 50 years since women started flying in the Navy.

Drew, who graduated from St. Mark’s School in Southborough before attending the U.S. Naval Academy, told WBZ she never thought she’d be part of something like this.

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“I think if you told my 10-year-old self that I would be doing this, I would tell you, ‘Okay, sure,'” she said. “Once you get in there, it is business as usual. I am sure it will hit everyone once everyone is wheels on deck after the flyover.”

She added that she thinks the event has the potential to inspire others.

“It’s a great opportunity for someone to take a look at their TV and think to themselves, ‘That is an opportunity I didn’t know existed and now maybe I could see myself in their shoes,'” Drew said.

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Pilots appeared over the Arizona stadium during the national anthem.

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