From KING5:

A big shake-up was announced Friday involving one of Seattle's most popular summer shows – the Seafair Blue Angels.

The commanding officer of the Blue Angels has been relieved of his duties over a safety issue. This involves a maneuver at the Lynchburg Regional Air Show in Virginia last weekend where a plane flew lower than normal.

Commander Dave Koss apparently volunteered to step down, saying that the low altitude was unacceptable.

"I performed a maneuver that had an unacceptably low minimum altitude," said Koss. "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 the previous Blue Angels' commanding officer for the rest of the season.

Due to the shakeup, the Blue Angels' scheduled performances at the Rockford Airfest June 4-5 and the Evansville Freedom Festival Air Show June 11-12 have been cancelled. No word if the Seafair Blue Angels show will be affected. Any potential changes to future scheduled shows will be announced at a later date.

Blue Angels commanding officer steps down over safety issue | KING5.com Seattle

I'm sorry to hear that 'Mongo' has been relieved, but if the safety of the team and/or the spectators has been compromised then I'm sure that he knew the hard decision had to be made. I tip my cover, thank him for his service, and wish him success in his next endeavour.

USMCFLYR

His next endeavor will be in the civilian world, no doubt.

Just one of many in a recent parade of Navy CO reliefs. People are starting to question the selection process...

Was kind of a shock to me when I found out they were pulling out of the Millville air show this weekend in NJ.

Rickair7777,
Congratulations, your post aggravated me to the point of registering on APC to reply.

As a Military Officer and Aviator, I can say what Blue Angel One did by stepping down was above and beyond. The intestinal fortitude for a TACAIR Blue Angel Commander to step down is truly admirable. Unlike the Thunderbird commander many years ago who led his entire team right into the deck, Blue Angel 1 is doing the right thing, and no doubt he probably hasn't slept a wink this week.

A senior Hornet pilot with an impressive resume cannot EVEN compare to the other CO firings this year...all for gross misconduct. BA1 had a bad day in the cockpit and is giving up his command because of it. I'm certain we've all had maneuvers in the air that we wish we could take back.

So, like USMCflyer I'll salute BA1 smartly and learn from his mistakes and leadership.

That is all, Thank You.

Yeah sorry Rick, but you're sorely mistaken on this one. Mongo is an outstanding Officer, was a phenomenal Skipper in the fleet, a true mentor, and I would fly on his wing BACK into combat even if that fight was in the third circle of hell.

The problem is the Navy is very unforgiving of COs who screw up even a little. His career is over. Hopefully, he'll get an Alaska interview this fall. He'd be our 2nd Blue Angel and we'd be glad to have him.

BZ from this sailor to Mongo. A truly difficult decision to say the least, but IMHO it is a testament to his character that he did the right thing.

Civilian here...

....I had no idea the Navy was that unforgiving for 1 mistake, even a safety mistake. To have a whole career ruined by just one mistake seems over the top to me. To invest so much in the man and then just take it away from him after serving all these years seems unjust. The pressure to perform at 100% all the time must take SO much out of you I don't know how you do it. My hats off to you guys.