<span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="font-size: 14pt">Blue Angels CO resigns after leading low flyover</span>
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By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Friday May 27, 2011 14:08:56 EDT
The commanding officer of the elite Blue Angels flight demonstration team stepped down Friday after a mere seven months in command following a “lower-than-normal maneuver” during a recent show that forced the cancellation of three of the team’s acrobatic performances, according to a Navy announcement.
The voluntary relief of Cmdr. Dave Koss of Orange Park, Fla., a 20-year F/A-18 pilot, came less than a week after he grounded the unit following a May 22 incident in which four of the team’s Hornets flying in a diamond barrel roll break formation, including his own, completed a maneuver judged to have passed too low to the ground in Lynchburg, Va.
Koss was relieved by Rear Adm. Bill Sizemore, chief of Naval Air Training Command, according to a statement from Naval Air Forces.
“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,” Koss wrote in the statement. “This maneuver, combined with other instances of not meeting the airborne standard that makes the Blue Angels the exceptional organization that it is, led to my decision to step down.”
Koss will be replaced by Capt. Greg McWherter, previous CO of the Blue Angels, for the rest of the season.
The Blue Angels’ CO is assigned to the No. 1 jet and serves as the flight leader during performances. The team has seven jets — six typically take part in the demonstration while the seventh, a two-seater, is a backup and is used to fly civilian guests prior to the shows.
The Navy did not say how low the jets were flying. But they flew lower than the Blue Angels’ own standard and, according to Naval Air Forces spokeswoman Cmdr. Pauline Storum, it was Koss who led them to that point.
“Let’s think about how the Blues fly,” Storum said. “The rest of that formation is lined up on the leader. So he has to be perfect, every time. They are spotting based on his position.”
After the low maneuver, the team broke from routine and regrouped. The rest of the performance at the Lynchburg Regional Air Show in Virginia was canceled and the planes landed without incident, Blues spokeswoman Lt. Katie Kelly said. Following a debriefing, Koss and the team returned to Pensacola, Fla., the team’s home base, and Koss implemented a standdown.
Storum said Koss would not be made available for interviews. He could not be independently reached.
Koss’s decision to resign from a job Storum called “one of the most prestigious assignments an aviator could have” was all his own, she said.
“What’s really striking about this is that they regroup, they go back to Pensacola, and the CO has the courage and integrity to tell his boss, ‘You know what? I need to step aside,’” Storum said. “And that’s a very tough decision to make. And that just speaks volumes about his capacity as a leader and his overriding concern for safety.
“There’s just no room for error,” she said.
The team was within FAA regulations governing distance to the crowd and flights over the crowd — 1,500 feet and 500 feet, respectively — Storum said.
Storum said Koss would not be made available for interviews. He could not be independently reached.
The Blues subsequently scrapped a practice session and an air show planned for May 24-25 in Annapolis, Md. On May 26, the team announced it was canceling appearances at the Naval Academy graduation May 27 and at an air show May 28-29 in Millville, N.J.
The relief of Koss means the Blues will also have to cancel their appearances at the Rockford Airfest in Illinois (June 4-5) and at the Evansville Freedom Festival Air Show in Indiana (June 11-12). The announcement said any other potential changes will be announced at a later date.
Koss, who assumed command of the Blues in November, is a 1991 Naval Academy graduate and veteran naval aviator who has amassed more than 3,000 flight hours and 740 arrested landings on carriers, and garnered two awards for leadership during his career.
In addition to numerous other assignments, Koss took part in late 1990s flight operations over Iraq and Bosnia-Herzegovina and flew missions over Afghanistan and Iraq in support of those wars in 2001 and 2003, respectively. He assumed command of Strike Fighter Squadron 14 in November 2008 and led the unit during a deployment aboard the carrier Nimitz in support of the war in Afghanistan.
Staff writer Joshua Stewart contributed to this report.
Navy Times Link
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My hats off to this guy for putting the safety of his guys and the public first. Hopefully he'll land on his feet and finish out what certainly has to be a distinguished career.
I've seen these guys perform and there is nothing like them in the world.
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By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Friday May 27, 2011 14:08:56 EDT
The commanding officer of the elite Blue Angels flight demonstration team stepped down Friday after a mere seven months in command following a “lower-than-normal maneuver” during a recent show that forced the cancellation of three of the team’s acrobatic performances, according to a Navy announcement.
The voluntary relief of Cmdr. Dave Koss of Orange Park, Fla., a 20-year F/A-18 pilot, came less than a week after he grounded the unit following a May 22 incident in which four of the team’s Hornets flying in a diamond barrel roll break formation, including his own, completed a maneuver judged to have passed too low to the ground in Lynchburg, Va.
Koss was relieved by Rear Adm. Bill Sizemore, chief of Naval Air Training Command, according to a statement from Naval Air Forces.
“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,” Koss wrote in the statement. “This maneuver, combined with other instances of not meeting the airborne standard that makes the Blue Angels the exceptional organization that it is, led to my decision to step down.”
Koss will be replaced by Capt. Greg McWherter, previous CO of the Blue Angels, for the rest of the season.
The Blue Angels’ CO is assigned to the No. 1 jet and serves as the flight leader during performances. The team has seven jets — six typically take part in the demonstration while the seventh, a two-seater, is a backup and is used to fly civilian guests prior to the shows.
The Navy did not say how low the jets were flying. But they flew lower than the Blue Angels’ own standard and, according to Naval Air Forces spokeswoman Cmdr. Pauline Storum, it was Koss who led them to that point.
“Let’s think about how the Blues fly,” Storum said. “The rest of that formation is lined up on the leader. So he has to be perfect, every time. They are spotting based on his position.”
After the low maneuver, the team broke from routine and regrouped. The rest of the performance at the Lynchburg Regional Air Show in Virginia was canceled and the planes landed without incident, Blues spokeswoman Lt. Katie Kelly said. Following a debriefing, Koss and the team returned to Pensacola, Fla., the team’s home base, and Koss implemented a standdown.
Storum said Koss would not be made available for interviews. He could not be independently reached.
Koss’s decision to resign from a job Storum called “one of the most prestigious assignments an aviator could have” was all his own, she said.
“What’s really striking about this is that they regroup, they go back to Pensacola, and the CO has the courage and integrity to tell his boss, ‘You know what? I need to step aside,’” Storum said. “And that’s a very tough decision to make. And that just speaks volumes about his capacity as a leader and his overriding concern for safety.
“There’s just no room for error,” she said.
The team was within FAA regulations governing distance to the crowd and flights over the crowd — 1,500 feet and 500 feet, respectively — Storum said.
Storum said Koss would not be made available for interviews. He could not be independently reached.
The Blues subsequently scrapped a practice session and an air show planned for May 24-25 in Annapolis, Md. On May 26, the team announced it was canceling appearances at the Naval Academy graduation May 27 and at an air show May 28-29 in Millville, N.J.
The relief of Koss means the Blues will also have to cancel their appearances at the Rockford Airfest in Illinois (June 4-5) and at the Evansville Freedom Festival Air Show in Indiana (June 11-12). The announcement said any other potential changes will be announced at a later date.
Koss, who assumed command of the Blues in November, is a 1991 Naval Academy graduate and veteran naval aviator who has amassed more than 3,000 flight hours and 740 arrested landings on carriers, and garnered two awards for leadership during his career.
In addition to numerous other assignments, Koss took part in late 1990s flight operations over Iraq and Bosnia-Herzegovina and flew missions over Afghanistan and Iraq in support of those wars in 2001 and 2003, respectively. He assumed command of Strike Fighter Squadron 14 in November 2008 and led the unit during a deployment aboard the carrier Nimitz in support of the war in Afghanistan.
Staff writer Joshua Stewart contributed to this report.
Navy Times Link
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My hats off to this guy for putting the safety of his guys and the public first. Hopefully he'll land on his feet and finish out what certainly has to be a distinguished career.
I've seen these guys perform and there is nothing like them in the world.
