Sunday, April 13, 2008

CO relieves himself for loss of confidence


"Once you start nibbling on the edges, occasionally extend those and start exceeding those limitations then you have to start questioning. I have nothing to be ashamed of. I can hold my head high with pride. I haven't crashed any airplanes, none of my pilots has crashed an airplane, none of my pilots have been hurt."

"The decision, when it came before me - the right stars aligned, you might say, and it was pretty evident to me that I needed to take some action to preclude some type of mishap from occurring."

Statement by Commander Donnie Cochran, the first black Navy Blue Angels pilot and the flight demonstration squadron's first black Commanding Officer upon resigning as CO of the unit in May 1996. Two other black pilots have followed him as Blue Angels pilots in the 12 years since.

"I am perfectly aware that I am an African American".


No comments: