Sonali Tiwary
Two members of the US Navy‘s Blue Angels flight demonstration squadron have been dismissed within the same season, and social media has been connecting dots that officials say do not connect. If you have been seeing posts claiming a joint scandal took down the team’s pilot and public affairs officer, here is what the confirmed facts actually show.
Marine Maj. Scott Laux, a Blue Angels demonstration pilot, and Marine Capt. Danielle Cribb, the squadron’s public affairs officer, have both been removed from the team. The Navy confirmed both departures. The Navy said Laux was removed for failing to uphold standards, but it has not detailed the reason for Cribb’s removal. Laux had accumulated roughly 1,300 flight hours and 169 carrier landings during his career. The removals came at the end of the 2026 demonstration season. The Blue Angels flew their final scheduled shows of the year on November 6 and 7 at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida.
Because both departures happened at the season’s close, no upcoming air shows will be affected. The Blue Angels have moved into winter training at Naval Air Facility El Centro in California. Incoming 2027 demonstration pilots have already been selected.
Online speculation spread quickly after the Pensacola shows, partly because the team flew with only five jets instead of the usual six, and partly because both Laux and Cribb’s biographies disappeared from the Blue Angels website around the same time. Many posts assumed a single shared incident was behind both removals.
Defense officials pushed back on that reading. Cribb was actually removed before Laux. The website updated both biographies during routine season-end roster turnover, which made the two changes appear simultaneous when they were not. Neither removal has any connection to a July 2026 low-altitude flyover above Pensacola Beach that had separately drawn attention. That flight was cleared by Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao.
Were Blue Angels officers Scott Laux and Danielle Cribb fired for the same incident? No. According to defense officials, Cribb was removed before Laux, and the two personnel actions were completely unrelated to each other. Neither removal was linked to the July 2026 Pensacola Beach flyover. The specific reasons behind each action have not been made public, and both individuals face separate Marine Corps administrative reviews.
The Blue Angels have operated since 1946 and regularly cycle demonstration team members in and out between seasons. Roster changes at the end of a flying year are standard. What is unusual here is the removal of two members in the same season under separate circumstances. As winter training begins, officials have not released the full details behind Cribb’s dismissal, and no further official statements have been scheduled.
