Blue Angels Lynchburg Va. 2011 was this the problem formation?

Blue Angels on safety stand-down

The Associated Press
Posted : Monday May 23, 2011 16:13:54 EDT




ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The Blue Angels have canceled a practice demonstration and air show this week for the U.S. Naval Academy's graduation.

The flight demonstration squadron made the announcement Monday, a day before the demonstration was scheduled to take place and two days before the air show.

According to a statement issued by the squadron, the cancellation is due to a safety stand-down period imposed by the commanding officer. It comes after a lower-than-normal maneuver during the team's last performance Sunday at the Lynchburg Regional Air Show in Lynchburg, Va. All aircraft landed safely without damage to the planes or injury to the pilots.

The team will remain in Pensacola, Fla., during the stand-down for more training.

It has yet to be determined whether the team's flyover will take place Friday during graduation.

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[b1cc2]

Am I correct to notice that they tried the same maneuver twice, the second being the problem, but didn't break the first time? I'm wondering what happened the first time. I've never seen a demo team perform the same maneuver twice, either.

[horsemoney]

@b1cc2 Same maneuver once Saturday and once Sunday

[MaxInterjects]

How come they didn't break on the first one? They just...flew by and stayed together. Kinda dull.....

[horsemoney]

@MaxInterjects I think what they did was fly past the crowd first and then break, instead of breaking over the crowd.

[jggrn]

I think it's great that the people involved were responsible enough to realize there was a safety issue before something disastrous occurred. They stepped up and admitted there was a problem before the media pointed a finger or the government had to organize an investigation. We are humans and we make mistakes. It takes real integrity to admit those mistakes and take responsibility for them. I commend the Captain and his pilots.

[globemaster68]

THE CO was NOT asked to resign, he stepped down on his own. this is a quote from the NAVAIR facebook page."With deep personal regret I shared with my command today that I will be voluntarily leaving the greatest flight demonstration team. I performed a maneuver that had an unacceptably low minimum altitude,” said Koss. he almost cost the teams their lives, so the perfectly acceptable thing to do was STEP DOWN. CDR KOSS you are a honorable man, good luck to you in the rest of your life.

[jpleitch1356]

@leadsologtoctsv need I remind you: watch?v=ti9e4y-tQtc

They're both great, but seriously. Blues fly closer, tighter formations and do so in a heavier and slightly less maneuverable aircraft. Lets be real...

[Tomsonx232]

@pewtoobe there's a difference between a mistake that can easily be corrected with practice and work ethic and a mistake that was caused by miss judgement which could potentially end lives

[leadsologtoctsv]

They suck........

Thunderbirds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[pewtoobe]

USA is getting SOFT! I will NEVER accept that these more and more frequent firings & DORs are good for the Military Demo Teams. The Blues & T-Birds are a couple of handfuls of the best of the best aviators on the planet. If they never made a mistake they wouldn't be human. If they fired pilots for mistakes, neither team would make it out of desert training. That is the point of constant training, before and during the season: to make the team better and better every show. Get back on the horse!

[jprebs]

That second formation was definitely the issue. I was in a FA-18 squadron in the early 90's, VFA-131 - Wildcats, I know the current Skipper of the Blue Angels - Greg McWherter (great guy by the way and he was the Skipper prior to this guy). After watching a ton of these shows, this maneuver bottoms out way too low, and if you notice one guy bails out straight up and the other veers off to the right with no fancy rolls or sharp maneuvering. Audio would reveal the Skipper making the call.

[FlysRunningAway]

That was my first airshow. I loved it! I'll most definetly go back next year, regardless of how hot it was and how bad a sunburn I got. xD

[sethc2001]

i live near here

[mavho66789]

Wht u cant tell is that the sound is like almost about 15 to 20 seconds behind the jets when they fly by