A Blue Angels pilot was removed from the Navy’s flight demonstration team for “failing to uphold” its standards, leaving squadron with a five-jet show on Friday.
The dismissal comes just months after a controversial low Pensacola Beach flyover in July that sent debris flying, raising concern for public safety.
Maj. Scott Laux, a second-year member of the elite team, was identified as Blue Angel No. 6. The Chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA) confirmed his removal to the Pensacola News Journal, saying the decision was announced Friday before the season finale at home in Pensacola.
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“Blue Angel #6 was removed from the team for failing to uphold the standards expected of members of the Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron and will not participate in the team’s remaining performance this season,” Chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA) public affairs office wrote in a statement Friday.
When reached for comment, CNATRA noted Sunday the removal came Nov. 3.
Laux previously defended the team’s low-flying displays after the July flyover over Pensacola Beach sent tents, beach chairs and umbrellas flying as sand swept across the shoreline.
“We appreciate the trust in support and it’s our privilege to be able to perform in that way,” Laux told Rolling with Madrina after the incident. “We’re gonna keep bringing the heat and continue doing it safely.”
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Navy and War Department leaders had previously defended the low flyovers.
“Flight debrief complete. No reprimands. No firings. No problem,” Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao wrote on X in July. “That’s the sound of Freedom! Semper fi and Hooyah.”
War Secretary Pete Hegseth had vowed more support.
“The flyovers will continue until morale improves,” Hegseth wrote on X.
The White House posted a photo meme of the controversial flyover from its official X account.
“It’s okay to love America,” the post read.
The Navy has not said when Laux was dismissed or what conduct prompted the decision. His photo and biography are no longer featured on the Blue Angels’ website’s team page.
Laux was absent from the squadron’s NAS Pensacola Homecoming Air Show on Friday and Saturday, where the team performed with five jets instead of its usual six. Laux’s role was the opposing solo, which flies with lead solo #5 in the head-on crossing passes and mirror-image maneuvers that fill the gaps between the four-jet Diamond’s routines.
The routines were adjusted to account for the missing jet, according to reports.
The 2026 narrator, Lt. Commander Ronny Hafeza, might replace Laux on the 2027 team. The Blue Angels officers serve three-year terms, one as a narrator as Laux did.
Laux, a native of Chantilly, Va., graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 2012 with a degree in Chinese and earned his wings in 2015, according to his bio, which as of Sunday morning could still be accessed on the site despite no longer being listed with the rest of the team. He flew F/A-18 Hornets with Marine Corps squadrons, deployed to Japan and aboard the USS Nimitz and supported three operations during the 2020 carrier deployment: Resolute Support, Inherent Resolve and Octave Quartz.
He later transitioned to the F-35C Lightning II and served as an instructor pilot before joining the Blue Angels in September 2024. Before becoming Blue Angels #6, he served as the show’s narrator.
Laux has more than 1,300 flight hours and 169 aircraft carrier landings. His awards include two Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals and multiple unit awards.
