U.S. Naval Air Forces issued a safety stand down for four tactical aviation teams following a crash between two EA-18G Growlers at an air show over the weekend.
All four Naval aviators ejected from the two aircraft, assigned to the “Vikings” of VAQ-129 EA-18G Growler Demo Team out of Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash. One person was treated for a non-life threatening injury at a local hospital as a result of the Sunday crash, according to a statement from Cmdr. Amelia Umayam, spokesperson for Naval Air Forces, U.S. Pacific Fleet.
The tactical demonstration team from the Vikings is one of four teams under the stand down. The other three teams are from Navy fleet replacement squadrons’ “Flying Eagles” of VFA-122, the “Gladiators” of VFA-106 and the “Rough Raiders” of VFA-125, the Navy confirmed Thursday to USNI News
The Flying Eagles and Gladiators are both Rhino Demonstration Teams – one on each coast – that fly the two-seater F/A-18F. The Rough Raiders fly F-35C Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters.
The teams can still do flyovers and static displays in air shows as part of the stand down but can’t put on tactical demonstrations.
The Blue Angels, which fly F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, are not part of the stand down. The Blue Angels, as well as the Army’s Golden Knights and the Air Force’s Thunderbirds, are the three Pentagon-sanctioned aerial demonstration teams, which are different from tactical demonstration teams.
Unlike the Blue Angels, the TACDEMO teams aren’t a full-time job but a collateral duty for the instructors at the training squadrons around the fleet. The pilots selected for the program are committed to an airshow schedule in addition to their training duties of new Navy pilots, USNI News understands.
“FRS TACDEMO, when conducted in a safe and professional manner, projects a highly favorable image of naval airpower to the civilian community, other military services, and members of the naval establishment unfamiliar with naval aviation,” reads a 2016 instruction on the TACDEMO teams.
The East Coast Rhino Demo Team was next slated to appear this weekend in the Hyundai Air and Sea Show in Miami Beach, Fla., while the West Coast team’s next show is in September.
The F-35C Lightning II demo team is expected at the Dayton, Ohio, air show in June.
Meanwhile, the cause of the Growler crash is under investigation, service officials told USNI News.