blue angelsNavy Cmdr. Dave Koss was voluntarily relieved of duty Friday as the commanding officer of the Blue Angels following a "lower-than-normal maneuver" performed at an airshow Sunday in Lynchburg, Va."With deep personal regret I shared with my command today that I will be voluntarily leaving the greatest flight demonstration team," Koss said in a Navy news release. "I performed a maneuver that had an unacceptably low minimum altitude.
"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."He will be replaced by Navy Capt. Greg McWherter, who commanded the team before Koss took over in November 2010.Koss, an Orange Park native and 20-year F/A-18 pilot, grounded the unit following Sunday's incident in Lynchburg in which four of the team's Hornets flying in a diamond formation completed a maneuver too low to the ground.Following a debriefing after the Sunday show, Koss and the team returned to Pensacola Naval Air Station and Koss implemented a safety stand-down.The Blues subsequently scrapped a practice session and an air show planned for Tuesday and Wednesday in Annapolis, Md. On Thursday, the team announced it was canceling appearances at Friday's Naval Academy graduation and at an air show in Millville, N.J., this weekend.
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