A retired Air Force flight surgeon wrote a viewpoint for the Seattle Times calling for the retirement of the Blue Angels after seeing the Navy’s flight demonstration squadron participate in the 75th Anniversary of Seafair, Seattle’s annual summer festival. Read “Let’s honor the past but bid farewell to the Blue Angels.”
“It’s time to salute and say goodbye to the Blue Angels at Seafair,” wrote Dr. Breck Labegue, a WA Physicians for Social Responsibility member. “Although we need skilled fighter pilots to defend our nation and our allies from enemies, these airshows cause significant health harm.”
He scoffed at the idea that the Blue Angels helps with Navy recruitment, citing a Seattle Times article that there was no data to prove it.
The psychiatrist complained that the jets can cause hearing loss after “long or repeated exposure.” He cited a study that found the jets at NAS Whidbey Island, north of Seattle, put over 74,000 people within the area at risk of adverse health effects because the same jet used by the Blue Angels, F/A-18, is flown on that base.
What is the exposure? “Substantial numbers were estimated to be highly annoyed and highly sleep disturbed, and several schools were exposed to levels that place them at risk of delay in childhood learning.”
What a second. The study of the “pervasive military aircraft noise pollution” was based on analyzing combat training missions to and from two airfields on Whidbey Island to off-station areas over 2021-2022. The Blue Angels flew this past weekend on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday afternoons. No children were in school when they took to the air. If anyone was sleeping at 3:30 p.m., they may have had other reasons for being annoyed or disturbed.
Lebegue calculated that the Blue Angels burn 70,500 gallons of jet fuel during their practice runs and airshow in Seattle, generating 670 metric tons of carbon dioxide— “contributing more to climate change than 30 cars would by driving 150,000 miles each.”
He wrote, “Thank the Blue Angels for their service and past shows, say goodbye and move on to quiet planes, cleaner air and healthy family fun.”
Whenever people are having a good time, there will always be Lebegue wanting to stop the fun.
While Labegue has his concerns, many enjoy the Blue Angels’ performances and consider them a celebration of America. The May release of the film “The Blue Angels” has grown the squadron’s popularity exponentially. In Pensacola, where the Blue Angels are based, we eagerly wait to see them return home on Sunday afternoons.
The Blue Angels attract crowds because people appreciate the aviators’ skill and revel in the patriotism the Blue Angels evoke, and it’s unlikely that we will be giving up this tradition anytime soon.
