A Blue Angels pilot has been booted from the Navy’s famed stunt-flying team for failing to meet its standards. Maj.
Fox News congressional correspondent Bill Melugin speaks with visitors at the Great American State Fair about the U.S. Navy Blue Angels flyover on 'America 250: Celebrating Freedom.' (Courtesy: Freedom 250)
A Blue Angels pilot was removed from the Navy’s flight demonstration team for "failing to uphold" its standards, leaving the squadron with a five-jet show on Friday.
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.
"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.
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Maj. Scott Laux answers media questions at NAS Pensacola on July 16, 2026. (USA Today Network via Reuters Connect)
The Navy has not said exactly what conduct prompted Laux's dismissal. 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.
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Maj. Scott Laux spent one year as a narrator and most of his second year on the Blue Angels, before being shelved before the final performance of the season this weekend. (Getty Images)
The routines were adjusted to account for the missing jet, according to reports.
The 2026 narrator, Lt. Cmdr. Ronny Hafeza, might replace Laux on the 2027 team. The Blue Angels officers serve three-year terms, one as a narrator as Laux did.
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Marine Corps Maj. Scott Laux was outspoken in defending the July low beach flyover, but he is the one who has conspicuously been removed from the Blue Angels' final performance of the season. (USA Today Network via Reuters Connect)
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.
The Blue Angels soar above the Florida coastline. (Stephen Lashbrook)
The U.S. Navy Blue Angels fly over a pier along the Pensacola Beach coastline on Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (Stephen Lashbrook)
The U.S. Navy Blue Angels fly over Pensacola Beach on Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (Stephen Lashbrook)
The Blue Angels take to the skies during a flight over Florida’s Gulf Coast on Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (Stephen Lashbrook)
The Navy’s Blue Angels fly in formation over Pensacola Beach. (Stephen Lashbrook)
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.
The dismissal comes just months after a controversial low Pensacola Beach flyover in July that sent debris flying, raising concern for public safety. It is unclear if Laux's dismissal from the team is in any way related to the low flyover. Laux was not the pilot who performed the controversial maneuver, but he previously defended the team’s low-flying displays after the incident.
Eric Mack is a breaking news reporter and writer Sunday through Thursday, 6 a.m. ET to 2 p.m. ET, with a particular interest in stories that lead the news cycle on politics, elections, foreign affairs and government.

