US Blue Angels name Amanda Lee as first female pilot

Lt Lee is one of six new officers selected for the 2023 air show season, the Navy says

Lieutenant Amanda Lee, the first demonstration pilot for the 'Gladiators' of Strike Fighter Squadron 106 in the Blue Angels. Photo: US Navy via AP

The US Navy Blue Angels fly over the 'USS Bataan' before a Memorial Day ceremony at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, in New York. EPA

The Blue Angels fly over New York City's Manhattan borough. EPA

US Navy Captain Brian Kesserling, Blue Angel flight leader, climbs into an F/A-18E Super Hornet jet in Rome, Georgia. AP

US Navy Blue Angel No. 5, flown by Commander Ben Walborn, takes off during practice in Rome, Georgia. AP

The Blue Angels fly during fleet week around the ballpark at Oracle Park in San Francisco. Photo: USA Today Sports

The Blue Angels in San Francisco. Photo: USA Today Sports

A Blue Angels flypast during an NFL pre-season game at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois. EPA

Members of the US Air Force Thunderbirds and the Blue Angels fly over Kansas City, Missouri. AP

US Navy Blue Angels perform a flypast at the 'Salute to America; event during July 4 Independence Day celebrations at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. Reuters

The US Navy's famed aerial display team, the Blue Angels, have named Lieutenant Amanda Lee as its first female pilot.

Lt Lee, of Mounds View, Minnesota, was one of six new officers selected for the 2023 air show season, the Navy said on Monday.

After a five-month training programme, she will fly the F/A-18 Super Hornet for the elite demonstration team founded in 1946.

Lt Lee, whose call sign is "Stalin", was commissioned as an officer in 2013 after being trained as an aviation electronics technician, the Navy said. She became a naval aviator in 2016.

Another woman, Marine Major Katie Cook, joined the Blue Angels in 2015 and flew C-130 support aircraft known as "Fat Albert."