The 101st Airborne Division of the Army has reportedly launched an inquiry into the “planning and execution” of a helicopter flyover during a Tennessee Titans game earlier this year.
The flyover in question took place prior to the Titans home game against the New Orleans Saints on Nov. 14 at Nissan Stadium in Nashville. Video captured multiple helicopters from the 101st Airborne Division’s Combat Aviation Brigade proceeding over the stadium at an extremely low altitude that seemingly put them in close enough proximity to fans to warrant concern.
An investigation from Nashville’s NewsChannel 5 released this past Monday brought up scrutiny of the operation. The Federal Aviation Administration will now reportedly review the incident to see whether the flyover violated any aviation rules, according to the Army Times.
Army spokesperson Lt. Col. Terence Kelley confirmed that the 101st Airborne Division’s commanding general, Maj. Gen. Joseph McGee, “has directed [a] preliminary inquiry into this event”, per the Times.
Here’s an overhead video of the flyover in question, posted on the Tennessee Titans Twitter account on Nov. 16:
From inside the @101stAASLTDIV military flyover #SaluteToService 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/aErsRxfR17
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) November 16, 2021
Soon after the flyover took place, a number of military helicopter pilots told Task & Purpose that they considered the flight to be safe. However, Larry Williams, a retired aviation safety inspector with the FAA, told NewsChannel 5 that the incident could “have been a disaster.”
“General reaction, yeah, it was unsafe,” Williams told the news outlet. “It was very dangerous.”
At this point in time, it’s unclear how long the inquiry will take or what the outcome of the investigation will be.
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