The U.S. Navy has removed Maj. Scott Laux from the Blue Angels, the service's elite flight demonstration squadron, for what it described as failing to uphold the team's standards. The announcement came Friday, shortly before the team's final performance of the season at Pensacola, Florida.
The Navy did not specify the conduct behind the decision, and it has not said when Laux was dismissed from the team. Laux flew as Blue Angel No. 6 and was a second-year member of the squadron. His removal means the team is operating without one of its six jets. At the Pensacola homecoming performance, the Blue Angels flew five aircraft instead of six, and the routines were adjusted to cover the missing jet. The change was visible to spectators, who watched the squadron perform its maneuvers with a reduced formation.
The dismissal follows a controversy over a low flyover in July above Pensacola Beach, which scattered beachgoers' gear across the sand. Navy and Pentagon leaders defended the low-altitude displays at the time and said no reprimands would be issued. Laux had also publicly defended the low-flying routines after that incident, which drew attention to the risks and boundaries of close-range aerobatic passes near crowds. The Navy has not linked the July flyover to his removal, and it has not said whether the two matters are connected.
Laux is a 2012 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and a former pilot of the F/A-18 Super Hornet and the F-35C Lightning II, the carrier-based variant of the fifth-generation fighter. He has logged more than 1,300 flight hours and 169 carrier landings, a record that reflects years of operational flying at sea. Those qualifications place him among the experienced aviators who are selected for the team, which flies tightly coordinated formations at high speed and close proximity.
The Navy has named Lt. Cmdr. Ronny Hafeza as a possible replacement for Laux on the team's 2027 roster. The timing of that selection points to a planned succession rather than an immediate substitution, although the service has not detailed how the squadron will fill the gap in the coming season. Hafeza's appointment would be a future matter for the team's leadership, and no further assignments were announced with the removal.
Fox News reached out to the Navy for comment on the removal. No response had been reported at the time of publication, so the service's explanation of the standards Laux is said to have failed to meet remains unavailable. The Blue Angels, based at Naval Air Station Pensacola, are among the most recognizable aviation units in the country, performing air shows across the nation and drawing large crowds each season.