text: During 1957, Chance Vought analyzed the accident record and found that, with 78 accidents and a quarter of the airframes lost while accumulating 55,000 flight hours, the Cutlass had the highest accident rate of all Navy swept-wing fighters. Furthermore, according to Thomason, accidents involving the Cutlass were typically more severe than with other aircraft. The aircraft's poor safety record caused Vice Admiral Harold M. "Beauty" Martin, air commander of the United States Pacific Fleet, to replace the Cutlass with the Grumman F9F-8 Cougars; the decision was somewhat abrupt, with new aircraft continuing to be delivered for a time after this. Nevertheless, the outstanding order for 250 Cutlass A2U-1, a ground-attack variant, was soon cancelled. During the late 1950s, the Navy donated many of the now-surplus aircraft to various municipalities and schools to promote aviation.
  Blue Angels
  The Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels, flew two F7U-1 Cutlasses (BuNos 124426 & 124427) as a side demonstration during their 1953 show season in an effort to promote the new aircraft, but did not use them as part of their regular formation demonstration. Both the pilots and ground crews found the aircraft generally unsatisfactory, and it was apparent that the type was still experiencing multiple teething troubles. However, there were political pressures to adopt the Cutlass, both from several senior officers and from senators. Among the failures were landing gear failures, hydraulic failures, engine fires while in the air and, on one occasion, a landing gear door fell on a spectator grandstand but, through sheer luck, did not injure anyone.