Overview
- Video widely shared online shows fireworks detonating very close to the fourth of four U.S. Army UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters during a scheduled pregame flyover at Lumen Field.
- The helicopters were from the 2-158th Assault Helicopter Battalion and remained in the stadium area when stadium pyrotechnics were launched, according to the footage and eyewitness accounts.
- Fans in the crowd audibly gasped and posted alarmed reactions on social media after the firework explosions appeared to pass near the last helicopter.
- Initial reports say no damage or crew injuries were observed in the available footage, but the videos do not definitively show whether the aircraft was struck.
- The incident has prompted calls for reviews of coordination between military flight operations, stadium event control, and pyrotechnics teams and could lead to formal investigation or procedural changes.