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Navy says it removed a Blue Angels pilot for failing to uphold standards

Marine pilot Scott Laux will miss the team's remaining show, and the Navy has not said what prompted it or when it decided.

The Blue Angels in delta formation at Fleet Week in San Francisco in 2018
The Blue Angels in delta formation at Fleet Week in San Francisco in 2018. Photo: Frank Schulenburg, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
6 news outlets reported this
Liberal1 outletThe Navy's confirmation, with no specific reason givenCenter2 outletsA pilot's removal with the reason undisclosedConservative3 outletsRemoval set beside July's low beach flyover
ABRAnews EditorialPublished 1 min read
Overview

The Navy has removed Marine Maj. Scott Laux, the Blue Angels' No. 6 pilot, from its flight demonstration team. The Chief of Naval Air Training public affairs office told the Pensacola News Journal on Friday, Nov. 6, that he was removed for "failing to uphold the standards" expected of squadron members. He will not fly in the team's remaining performance this season.

The Navy has not said what led to the decision or when it was made. Laux was absent from the Homecoming Air Show at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida, where the team flew five jets instead of its usual six. His photo and biography appear to have been taken off the team's website.

Laux joined the Blue Angels in 2024 and served as narrator in 2025 before flying the opposing solo position. Newsweek reports that no disciplinary allegation or flight-safety incident has been publicly identified in connection with the removal.

Key figures
  • five jets instead of its usual sixjets flown at the Homecoming Air Show after Laux's removalNew York Post
  • 65 flight demonstrations across 32 locationsteam's 2026 schedule, per its support manual, as Newsweek reportsNewsweek
  • more than 1,300 flight hoursLaux's career flight timeFox News

Three sides of the story

1Liberal2Center3Conservative

6 news outlets reported this

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Liberal1 outlet

The Navy's confirmation, with no specific reason given

Yahoo News reports that Maj. Scott Laux was removed from the Blue Angels for "failing to uphold the standards" expected of the squadron, as CNATRA confirmed to the Pensacola News Journal on Nov. 6. Military officials did not disclose the specific circumstances, and he will miss the team's remaining performances this season. His photo and jet number appear to have been taken down from the official officers' page.

Center2 outlets

A pilot's removal with the reason undisclosed

Newsweek leads with the Navy's statement that the pilot was removed for "failing to uphold the standards expected," and stresses what is unknown. Officials did not immediately make public the specific reason or date, and "no disciplinary allegation or flight-safety incident has publicly been identified." It notes Laux missed the Nov. 6 Homecoming Air Show, where the team flew five jets, and that the Navy has not said if a replacement is coming.

It adds that the final show of the year also celebrates the base's 200th anniversary. Much of the piece is a profile: Naval Academy class of 2012, wings in 2015, a USS Nimitz deployment, more than 1,300 flight hours. It also gives team figures, including 158 active-duty sailors and Marines and 65 demonstrations on the 2026 schedule.

Conservative3 outlets

Removal set beside July's low beach flyover

Fox News and the New York Post both carry the CNATRA statement and note the Navy has yet to say when Laux was removed or what prompted it. Fox News says the dismissal comes "just months after" a July low flyover at Pensacola Beach that it says raised concern for public safety. The Post describes a low pass over the shoreline that sent tents, chairs and umbrellas flying, and says the unit has "seemingly scrubbed" his page.

Both quote Laux defending the team's low flying: "We're gonna keep bringing the heat." Fox adds that Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao posted "No reprimands. No firings.

No problem" in July, that War Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote "The flyovers will continue until morale improves," and that narrator Ronny Hafeza might replace Laux in 2027.

What a side did not mention
  • Liberal outlets did not mentionThe July low flyover at Pensacola Beach that sent tents, chairs and umbrellas flying, and Laux's earlier comments defending it Reported by Fox News, New York Post
  • Liberal outlets did not mentionLaux was absent from the Homecoming Air Show, where the team flew five jets instead of six Reported by Newsweek, Fox News, New York Post
All sources: 9 articles from 6 outlets

Liberal (1)

Center (2)

Conservative (6)