Pilot Reinstated After Losing Plane In Gulf

Being a rookie in any organization is tough by nature. But imagine being one of the US Navy's rookie Blue Angels. Imagine having dropped your F/A-18 into the Gulf of Mexico. Imagine having been suspended from flight pending investigation.

ANN is pleased to report that 32-year old Lt. Ted Steelman of Star, ID, has been reinstated to flight duty.

Steelman, on a training mission just off the coast of the Florida panhandle, punched out of his Super Hornet and watched as the aircraft hit the drink on December 1st. Although no official cause has been determined by the Navy, pilot error was obviously not a determining factor.

Steelman was reinstated on December 21st. That gave him plenty of time to acquire the necessary 120 hours of training necessary to fly on the Navy's elite demonstration team before the beginning of the air show season.

The $18 million aircraft, which was eventually salvaged from beneath the surface of the Gulf, was declared a total loss. Steelman and the rest of the team have been training at El Centro NAS, CA, for the past several weeks. El Centro, home of the first air show the Blue Angels will fly this season, is also the winter training home of the demonstration squadron.

FMI: www.blueangels.navy.mil